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Hurricane Milton plows across Florida, pounding cities and whipping up tornadoes. At least 4 dead

Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, where it knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up a barrage of tornadoes. The storm caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit.

The system tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario.”

The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa apparently did not materialize, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches (45 centimeters) of rain in some parts of the area, the governor said. The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 meters) — lower than in the worst place during Helene.

“We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses,” DeSantis said.

Insurance Commissioner predicts ‘continued strengthening’ of insurance market in Milton’s wake

Michael Yaworsky rebuts 'the narrative that has been circulating about our industry in recent months.'

Claims of the demise of Florida’s property insurance market are exaggerated. And indeed, it’s only getting better despite a pair of recent devastating major hurricanes, due to work being done in Tallahassee.

That’s the claim from Michael Yaworsky, the head of the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), who is trumpeting “additional encouraging developments related to the state’s strengthening property insurance market” in the wake of the one-two punch of last month’s Hurricane Helene and Wednesday’s Hurricane Milton.

For starters, USAA’s commitment to the state goes beyond a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer starring in their ad campaign.

Hurricane Milton Destroys Roof of Tropicana Field Stadium

The St. Petersburg stadium, home to M.L.B.’s Tampa Bay Rays, was being used to house emergency workers. Video showed parts of the fiberglass roof blowing in the wind.

Strong winds from Hurricane Milton on Wednesday night tore through the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., home to the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball, video showed.

Pieces of the translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass roof were seen flapping in the wind. Within minutes, videos posted to social media showed the flaps growing in size until large sections of the roof were completely missing.

Earlier this week, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida announced Tropicana Field was being converted into a 10,000-person base camp “to support ongoing debris operations and post-landfall responders.” The governor’s spokesman, Jeremy Redfern, said on Thursday morning that the staging area had been relocated to Jacksonville, Fla.

JEA linemen will put in 16-hour shifts and live out of hotels while restoring power

For the second time in two weeks, JEA linemen will be living out of their suitcases while putting in 16-hour shifts after a major storm hurtles through the Jacksonville area.

It's what linemen have come to expect this time of year during hurricane season when they work long hours together while guarding against mistakes in a job where even small errors can have dangerous consequences.

"This time of year, we spend more time with the guys here at work than we do with our families at home," said Butch Hartman, who has been a JEA lineman for 15 years.

That's literally the case during storm responses such as for Hurricane Helene and now for Hurricane Milton. JEA books hotel rooms for linemen so they won't be stuck in their homes because of road or bridge closures. The hotels are located near the JEA service centers on each side of Jacksonville so that means line workers aren't eating into their rest time by commuting long distances to their homes.