Residents slog through flooded streets, clear debris after Hurricane Milton tore through Florida

Hurricane Milton spares Tampa, but leaves devastation in its wake, with 10 dead, power outages, and environmental concerns.

Florida residents slogged through flooded streets, gathered up scattered debris, and assessed damage to their homes on Friday after Hurricane Milton smashed through coastal communities and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.

At least 10 people were dead, and rescuers were still saving people from swollen rivers, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. The hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.

Gov. Ron DeSantis warned people to not let down their guard, however, citing ongoing safety threats including downed power lines and standing water that could hide dangerous objects.

“We’re now in the period where you have fatalities that are preventable,” Mr. DeSantis said. “You have to make the proper decisions and know that there are hazards out there."

About 2.2 million customers remained without power in the State, according to poweroutage.us. St. Petersburg's 260,000 residents were told to boil water before drinking, cooking, or brushing their teeth, until at least Monday.

On Friday, the owner of a major phosphate mine disclosed that pollution spilled into Tampa Bay during the hurricane.

The Mosaic Company said in a statement that heavy rains from the storm overwhelmed a collection system at its Riverview site, pushing excess water out of a manhole and into discharges that lead to the bay. The company said the leak was fixed Thursday.