Death toll from monster Hurricane Milton in Florida climbs to 21

The death toll in Florida from Hurricane Milton climbed to 21 on Saturday, days after the monstrous Category 3 storm ravaged the state with over 100 miles per hour winds, a near-record storm surge and a historic tornado outbreak.

According to Fox Weather, the deadly hurricane left nearly four million people without power in the coastal state of the United States, where normalcy still eludes much of the state amid continued recovery efforts.

The deaths mainly resulted from strong tornadoes that swept through the state ahead of Milton’s landfall.

At least two were killed by falling trees and another by stepping on an active downed power line in the storm’s aftermath, officials said, according to Fox Weather.

As communities assess and clean up the damage in the aftermath of the recent back-to-back major hurricanes on both coasts, extensive power outages continue to exacerbate the situation.

Despite the efforts of tens of thousands of linemen, who have been working tirelessly to restore power to over two million consumers since Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday, roughly 1.5 million people still remained without power Saturday morning.

About a million residents in the Tampa Bay-Sarasota area, which took the brunt of the storm’s winds and hit with downed trees and power lines, are still facing power outages.

Additionally, the outages have affected fuel distribution at ports around Tampa Bay, with reports of as many as 75% of gas stations closed or without fuel as of Friday. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that the state is working to get fuel to stations and is also setting up fuel depots in hard-hit areas that will provide 10 gallons of free fuel per person.