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      Hurricane Milton Leaves Many Florida Animals in Limbo

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      Hurricane Milton has displaced people all over Florida. It left thousands of shelter animals in limbo, too.On Friday, animal shelters in Florida were struggling to handle an influx of animals after the storm and scrambling to relocate them, sending some as far away as Massachusetts.Temporary evacuation centers for animals had opened, including one at Alaqua Animal Refuge, in Florida’s Northern Panhandle, which began receiving animals from coastal areas at risk of flooding. Even small shelters were taking in animals, wherever they had spare kennels.“Many shelters were over capacity before the storm,” said Sharon Hawa, senior manager of emergency services at Best Friends Animal Society, a national organization that helped coordinate the transport of around 250 of Florida’s shelter animals this week.In an event like Milton, Ms. Hawa said, shelters usually receive animals picked up by people who are concerned that the strays could die in a storm, as well as ones that get separated from their owners during the storm.“Then there are animals that have already been part of their shelter population,” Ms. Hawa said, adding, “You’re talking about potentially 50, 60, 70, maybe 100 more animals.”On top of that, some shelters suffered property damage. “There are shelters where people are having to wade through water to get there to see if their shelter can even be operational,” Ms. Hawa said.In the lead-up to the storm, people in Clewiston, Fla., about 80 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale, brought in several stray dogs to the city, said Thomas Lewis, the police chief. Soon, the city’s animal services, which was only set up to handle 14 dogs, had more than 50. And Clewiston was in the direct path of the storm.Mr. Lewis wanted to save the animals, a mix of pit bull mutts and small dogs, and worked with Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, in West Palm Beach, to relocate more than 40 of them.Nearly all were taken by truck to West Palm Beach. From there, 10 of them were flown to Panama City Beach, and from there, they continued their journey to the Humane Society of North Texas.Chief Lewis said it was good that they had been relocated, since the town was hit by tornadoes. But he wondered what would happen to them next. More

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      Scared by Helene, Everyone in This Florida Beach Town Evacuated for Milton

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      Chris Miller rode out Hurricane Helene just over two weeks ago inside his picturesque yellow home across from the Gulf of Mexico in Bradenton Beach, a tiny Florida city on a barrier island. As the storm surge rose, he readied a wet suit in case he needed to escape.As a huge wall of water swept away his next-door neighbor’s house, he called the mayor, who lives down the road.“I told him, ‘Bev’s house is headed your way,’” Mr. Miller recalled on Friday.So when Hurricane Milton bore down this week, with Bradenton Beach directly in its path, Mr. Miller knew that he had to evacuate.“After we saw what we saw,” he said, “we couldn’t stay.”Neither did anyone else, Bradenton Beach officials believe — the first time in recent memory that even the most dedicated die-hards had no interest in riding out the storm. The forecast was simply too scary, and the memory of Helene — and Ian, another frightening storm two years earlier — was too fresh.“Most of the time, we have a few stragglers,” Mayor John Chappie, who also stayed on the island for Helene, said on Friday. “I don’t think we had any this time.”Dan and June DeBaun returned to their home in Bradenton Beach briefly on Friday to survey the latest damage, which was less severe than what was inflicted by Helene.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Digested week: ‘Just moving’? Tell that to Florida zookeepers

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      MondayAlong with death and divorce, moving makes up the trinity of what are supposed to be life’s most stressful experiences (assuming you don’t live on the Florida coast). On Monday, literally two and a half months after it left the US, my ship came in carrying among other things a large sectional sofa, a 200lb oak bookcase and 84 boxes of assorted personal effects, including an old colander with dried spaghetti stuck to the side and a tea strainer with a hole at the rim. The entire day was like a workshop on the consequences of poor decision-making.Apart from the books, I hadn’t missed any of the stuff and had come to the conclusion I’d be fine if it wound up at the bottom of the ocean. Instead, three men hauled the shipment up three flights of stairs while I dithered in the kitchen, occasionally popping my head round the door to assuage my anxiety by saying things such as: “At least it’s not raining!” and “Your job is so hard!” I hate myself sometimes.And while moving in is less stressful than moving out, it’s still brutal enough to make you wonder what exactly the problem is. Seeing all the things you invest meaning in out in the world, sad and undefended; wondering if your essential self is inextricably tied up in a bunch of 30-year-old birthday cards and some scraps of fabric you no longer fit into; the sinking feeling of never quite being able to out-run your stuff. Or maybe it’s just the stress of having large bodies crash into your walls, knocking chunks of plaster off at the corners. In New York, one of my movers had tried to counsel me while I watched everything go out the door. “It’s not life or death,” he said. “It’s just moving.” But I don’t think I agree.TuesdayPoliticians running for office in the UK are often forced into photo opps in pubs, pulling pints like the world’s most ill-at-ease bartender. In the US on Tuesday, Kamala Harris cracked open a beer with Stephen Colbert on his CBS late show and it was hard to tell just how awkward it was. The show tapes in New York, so the studio audience was ecstatic, but Harris still occupies a strange zone between someone who is highly polished and charismatic and a person who struggles to seem anything but wooden in public appearances.View image in fullscreenUnlike poor Rishi Sunak and his football gaffe around the Euros, in her of-the-people performance on Tuesday night, Harris sailed through the sports section, smartly ducking Colbert’s NFL question about Pennsylvania’s Steelers v Eagles with a pivot to her home town 49ers. But her response to Colbert’s chuckley invitation to swear about Donald Trump (“it starts with a W, there’s a letter in between, and the last letter’s F”) was sufficiently coy and self-satisfied to make one wonder about its utility beyond anyone-but-Trump-ers.WednesdayA scene straight from Hitchcock in a video taken in Washington state this week, where a woman who had, for years, been feeding the local raccoons woke up to find her house surrounded. A single raccoon is cute; 100 of them – bearing down on a house with hungry looks on their faces – is a horror movie, particularly when you discover that raccoons fall into that category of “cuddly looking animals that on a bad day could kill you”. The local sheriffs were called to disperse the hoard and issue the woman, whose name has not been released, with a stern advisory to quit encouraging them. It’s a lesson one hopes that might reach the lunatics who feed pigeons (and rats) in the city.ThursdayAs Hurricane Milton makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, most of the coverage rightly focuses on the threat to human life. But two stories of volunteers staying behind to care for the animals delivers a much-needed antidote to stories of horrifying destruction. At the Turtle hospital in the Florida Keys, conservationists gently move the rescue facility’s cohort of giant turtles out of the tidal pools to stop them getting bashed. And at Tampa zoo, a team of 12 workers elect to ride out the storm to protect more than 1,000 animals from harm, chopping up weeks’ worth of food for them and, Old Testament-style, moving them into storm-proofed containers.Meanwhile CNN anchor Anderson Cooper flies down from New York to put himself in harm’s way, gets hit in the face by flying debris while live on air, and mutters sheepishly, “Well, that wasn’t good, we’ll probably go inside shortly.” Bloody idiot.FridayIt’s that jolly time of year again in which we are offered the opportunity to slash an artery while attempting to gut a pumpkin, station it on our sideboards until it fills the room with the smell of rotting veg, then watch it slowly collapse in on itself while leaking orange fluid. For some, this year, there may be a get-out in the form of a national pumpkin shortage, which has hit Britain due a combination of a cold wet spring, slugs, and an unmistakable gift from the gods to those of us who find seasonal craft projects more stressful than moving. More

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      Stranded Mariner Seemingly Floated in the Gulf for Hours After the Hurricane

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      The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday rescued a man who had seemingly done the impossible: he survived for hours in the Gulf of Mexico with nothing but a life jacket and a cooler to cling to.The agency posted a video of a Coast Guard crew member dropping from a helicopter about 30 miles off Longboat Key to grab the man from choppy seas and lift him to safety.The man, the captain of a fishing vessel, had lost contact with the Coast Guard around 7 p.m. on Wednesday as the storm worsened. He wasn’t found until 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.He managed to stay alive despite winds as fast as 90 miles per hour and waves as high as 20 to 25 feet through the night, said Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, the St. Petersburg command center chief of the U.S. Coast Guard.“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” he said in a statement. The rescued captain, who was not identified, was taken to Tampa General Hospital to receive medical care. More

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      Hurricane Milton live updates: storm still producing hurricane-force winds as it moves off Florida’s east coast

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      The US National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Milton has completed its transit of Florida, and has moved off the state’s east coast. However, the center warns that it is still producing “hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall in east-central Florida”.In an earlier update the center said Milton still had a consistent wind speed of 85 mph (140 kph). About 3 million customers in Florida have been left without power, and there are reports of fatalities as rescue and recovery operations get under way.Milton earlier made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, swerving south and missing a direct hit on Tampa in Hillsborough County.The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office has said “post-storm recovery efforts have begun”. Danny Alvarez, the public information officer for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, earlier said it had been difficult for crews receiving 911 calls but unable to deploy while winds were consistently about 40 mph.St Petersburg residents could no longer get water from their household taps because a water main break led the city to shut down service, and a construction crane collapsed, falling into a building in the city. Streets in downtown Gulfport were under water.About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane even made landfall, many of them mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said, while authorities in St Lucie County said there had been more than one fatality.Fatalities have been reported on Florida’s east coast, after a tornado ripped through a retirement community in St Lucie county.One eyewitness, Doug Anderson, told local newspaper TCPalm that “I saw a truck knocked sideways. I followed the wreckage into Spanish Lakes. It looked like someone had dropped a weight from the sky and flattened a bunch of houses. One of the last houses I went to looked like it had been ripped in half. The people were out front crying. It was very heartbreaking to watch.”Anderson, a Lakewood Park resident, told the paper he spent about five hours on the scene trying to help, and witnessed numerous people with injuries.St Lucie county sheriff Keith Peterson earlier said of the location “Our deputies are out here. The Fire District is out here. We’re going through the rubble. We’re trying to recover anybody that we can, provide whatever help that we can.”Speaking to ABC News, meteorologist Kevin Musso has described the impact of Hurricane Milton compared to the forecast as a “mixed bag”. He said forecasts about the strength of the hurricane when it made landfall, and the location of the landfall, were “pretty good”, but that there is more that needs to be assessed.He told viewers “the question about the storm surge will really have to wait to be verified once we get to sunrise, get past these evening hours, and get into daylight.”Musso also said that the number of tornadoes associated with the hurricane had “exceeded expectations”. “Tornadoes happen,” he said, “but these were exceptional.”Here is some CCTV footage of CCTV showing Hurricane Milton flooding in a Fort Myers restaurant.The US National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Milton has completed its transit of Florida, and has moved off the state’s east coast. However, the center warns that it is still producing “hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall in east-central Florida”.In an earlier update the center said Milton still had a consistent wind speed of 85 mph (140 kph). About 3 million customers in Florida have been left without power, and there are reports of fatalities as rescue and recovery operations get under way.Milton earlier made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, swerving south and missing a direct hit on Tampa in Hillsborough County.The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office has said “post-storm recovery efforts have begun”. Danny Alvarez, the public information officer for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, earlier said it had been difficult for crews receiving 911 calls but unable to deploy while winds were consistently about 40 mph.St Petersburg residents could no longer get water from their household taps because a water main break led the city to shut down service, and a construction crane collapsed, falling into a building in the city. Streets in downtown Gulfport were under water.About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane even made landfall, many of them mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said, while authorities in St Lucie County said there had been more than one fatality.The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office has posted to Facebook that it is beginning recovery efforts. It said:
      Post-storm recovery efforts have begun in some parts of our county. Please stay home, as we have received reports of downed trees and flooded streets. Your safety is our priority.
      The number of customers without power in Florida has passed 3 million.It has just gone 4am in Florida, and the latest update from the National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Milton is moving north-east at 18mph with sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph).Here is a video clip of a crane collapse in Florida caused by Hurricane Milton.Bill Litton, the emergency management director for Osceola County, south of Orlando, has said over 1,400 people were in shelters in the county as of early Thursday morning, the New York Times reports.Max Chesnes, reporting for the Tampa Bay Times from downtown Gulfport in Florida, states that “There are a few flooded streets in the city under less than a foot of water,” noting that is “far from what the worst case forecasts called for.”However, in a sign of how Florida has been hit by two hurricanes in the space of a few days, he posted a picture of debris that had not been cleared from the impact of Hurricane Helene now being soaked in the floodwaters from Hurricane Milton.The NWS National Hurricane Center in Miami has issued an update on Hurricane Milton, which it says now has maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph), and is 30 miles (45 km) off Orlando and 20 miles (30 km) off Cape Canaveral.WINK News meteorologist Matt Devitt has described one of the effects of Hurricane Milton being the “worst tornado outbreak I’ve seen in Southwest Florida in a long time,” adding “there was “horrible damage and devastation from outer bands ahead of Milton.”Witnesses have told CNN that a crane collapsing in St Petersburg due to Hurricane Milton sounded like “a mix of thunder booming, and the metal screeching sound of a train wreck.”Resident Makenna Caskey told the news network it came down and hit a building opposite her apartment, and she said it felt like “a massive rumbling tremor that shook our whole building.”The Tampa Bay Times reported that the crane collapsed near its own office in St Petersburg and that there was “a strong smell of gasoline in the air and the faint sound of alarms ring out.” More

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      Hurricane Milton’s Storm Surge Threatens Dangerous Flooding in Florida

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      Storm surge along the western Florida coast began to pick up as daylight dwindled and Hurricane Milton came ashore with its heavy rains and damaging winds, bringing the threat of major flooding.Flood gauges showed rapidly rising water levels on the coast at Fort Myers and Naples Bay shortly after Milton’s center arrived on land near Sarasota. Forecasters warned of the life threatening surge, which was expected to reach up to 13 feet in some areas, like Boca Grande on the far edges of the western coast.The term storm surge describes the dramatic, higher-than-expected rise in water levels brought on by a storm, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.“The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” forecasters had earlier warned.In Tampa Bay, officials issued a flash flood emergency, a rare alert used when flooding is expected to inflict catastrophic damage and pose a severe threat to human life.Storm surge has been a particular point of emphasis with this hurricane among officials as it’s been responsible for dozens of deaths in storms past. In 2022, for example, 41 deaths during Hurricane Ian were attributed to storm surge.Images on social media taken before Milton’s arrival showed signs of the deluge to come, with water beginning to lap over sidewalks and roadways. Some videos showed the light from buildings reflecting brightly off the water against the darkness of night as it rushed over streets and into buildings. More

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      Riding Out the Storm Means Making New Friends in the Hotel Lobby

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      The humble hotel lobby has become a gathering place for some evacuees as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida. It’s a spot where people can exchange information — such as which gas stations still have fuel or where to find a hot meal — and stay informed with storm updates. For some, it’s also a place to connect, with the shared uncertainty fostering moments of camaraderie.“We’re all in the same boat, and the boat is flooding,” said Chris Granson Sr., 74, who evacuated from a barrier island off the coast of Clearwater, Fla., to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites here in Wesley Chapel, about 30 minutes north of downtown Tampa.Across the lobby from Mr. Granson, four friends from a senior community in Oldsmar, Fla., discussed politics and planned their next meal while watching the weather updates on TV. (Another guest advised them that a nearby 7-Eleven was still open.)They said they were part of a larger group at the community known as the Hippo Club, named so because its members enjoy “wallowing” in the pool while chatting about everything under the sun. For these four, the hurricane has temporarily relocated their club — and possibly added a few honorary members.“We’ve met people from all up and down the coast,” said Gayle Richardson, 66.Nearby, four women split Champagne and chocolates while playing a card game, including Laurie Deer, 56, who left lollipops at the front desk for the other guests, and Rosemary O’Hara, 69.Two of the women’s husbands joined them. Tom O’Hara, 77, who was affectionately called Mr. Positive by the others, confidently predicted that the storm would shift south, sparing their homes.“We’re laughing and bonding, trying not to watch too much news,” said Ms. O’Hara. “We know something bad is happening out there, and we’ll face it when we return. But, for now, we’re focusing on what matters.” More

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      Hospitals and Nursing Homes in Milton’s Path Prepare for the Storm

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      Healthcare facilities across the west coast of Florida, from clinics to nursing homes, are temporarily shutting their doors and evacuating patients in preparation for Hurricane Milton’s potentially devastating landfall.Mandatory evacuation orders in Pinellas County, which includes Clearwater and St. Petersburg, affect about 6,600 patients at six hospitals, 25 nursing homes and 44 assisted living facilities, according to the order. Scores of medical clinics and dialysis centers across the region have also closed, including dozens of outpatient facilities operated by the BayCare, a health care network.The region’s only Level 1 trauma center, Tampa General Hospital, has deployed a temporary flood barricade that officials hope will stave off the storm surge. Most of the hospitals in the region that are still open have suspended elective operations or have stopped accepting new patients.University of Florida Health, which operates about a dozen hospitals across the state, had enough food, water and fuel to keep its facilities operating for 96 hours, according to Peyton Wesner, a spokesman.Mary Mayhew, president of the Florida Hospital Association, said many facilities have improved their emergency preparedness in recent years by creating backup water supplies, acquiring generators and purchasing satellite telephones in case cell service is disrupted. Most hospitals have moved key infrastructure to higher floors.But Ms. Mayhew said there was only so much to be done in the face of a storm as powerful as Milton. “In the last few years, hospitals in Florida have had to frequently deal with these types of emergencies, but there is undoubtedly a heightened sense of concern given the magnitude of this storm and where it is likely they hit,” she said.During Hurricane Ian in 2022, Lee Health, a hospital network south of Tampa, was forced to bring in 10 water tankers when municipal water service was disrupted, which prompted evacuations at two of its hospitals. Though no water entered the hospital itself, flooding damaged or destroyed 400 cars in the hospital’s parking lot.“With every storm, we learn things, and we certainly learned about the dangers of storm surge,” said Dr. Larry Antonucci, the system’s president, noting that hospital employees have been asked to consider being dropped off at the facilities by someone else, or using ride share services. “We’re confident we can get through this.”Officials at Tampa General, which is surrounded by water on three sides, are hoping its temporary flood wall will keep the storm surge at bay, just as it did during Helene two weeks ago.The fence, manufactured by a Norwegian company, can withstand up to 15 feet of water, officials said. In one small dose of relief, hospital workers did not have to reinstall the fence to prepare for Milton: They simply never took it down. More