At least 10 dead, millions without power in aftermath of Hurricane Milton

President Biden on Thursday said that former President Trump “should get a life” amid false claims from Trump and his allies about the federal response to the recent hurricanes.

“Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life man, help these people,” Biden said in remarks on Hurricane Milton from the White House.

Read the full story here.

— Alex Gangitano

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday condemned reports of online harassment of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

“We’re seeing horrific hate speech of all types propagated on online platforms. That deplorable speech has an impact on people’s lives and it is also a motivating force for people to do harm. And it has got to stop,” Mayorkas told reporters at a White House press briefing.

Read the full story here.

— Brett Samuels

Walt Disney World Report announced Thursday that it is assessing the damage from Hurricane Milton in preparation for reopening its theme parks, Disney Springs and potentially other areas on Friday.

“Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm,” the company said.

Walt Disney World said in a Tuesday press release that it would close its theme parks beginning in phases on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the storm.

— Juliann Ventura

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell shared photos on the social platform X of her speaking with Florida officials, saying that there are 1,000 first responders on the ground in the state.

“I’m in Florida, leading the #milton federal coordination efforts with state & local officials. We have 1,000 first responders on the ground supporting life-saving actions across Florida,” she wrote in the post.”

Our number one priority is getting help to the people in need as quickly as possible,” she added.

Criswell had said that she was in touch with state leaders and had briefed President Biden earlier in the day on the next steps in the state.

— Juliann Ventura

Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) visited Ft. Myers, Fla., Thursday to survey damage from Hurricane Milton.

“Joined @SheriffLeeFL Carmine Marceno and local and emergency management officials in Fort Myers to survey the damage from Hurricane #milton and assure them I’m here to be their partner in getting folks every federal resource they need to recover,” Scott wrote on social platform X.”

Florida is resilient. We will recover and rebuild even stronger,” he added, sharing images from the visit.

In a separate post, Scott urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to reconvene the upper chamber to pass funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others.

The senator also spoke with federal responders earlier in the day for an update on recovery efforts.

— Steff Danielle Thomas

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) signaled Thursday that Congress is ready to step in to provide additional aid to storm recovery efforts.

In a post on social platform X, Johnson said states must first submit damage assessments, following the impacts of Hurricane Helene and Milton in the southeastern U.S.

He also chastised the Federal Emergency Management Agency, alleging it was holding back funds.”

As of now, FEMA has only distributed 1% of the over $20 billion Congress provided on Sept. 25 for disaster relief,” he wrote.”The Biden-Harris Administration must do a better job of getting more resources out the door and helping these folks who so badly need assistance,” Johnson added.

— Steff Danielle Thomas

Hundreds of flights in Florida and thousands across the country have been canceled or delayed as of Thursday afternoon as Hurrican Milton made landfall on Wednesday, according to Flight Aware.

Orlando International Airport has had the most cancellations, with nearly 500 canceled as of Thursday afternoon, the tracking service showed. Tampa International came in second, with more than 230 cancellations.

There have been more than 2,250 total cancellations and more than 1,500 delays within, into or out of the U.S. as of Thursday afternoon, according to the tracking service.

— Juliann Ventura

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a Thursday White House press briefing, said there are now 10 confirmed deaths in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

“This is a very fluid situation. We are just beginning damage assessment. We have 10 confirmed fatalities,” Mayorkas told reporters. “Our understanding is that those fatalities were caused by the tornadoes.”

He said federal response teams on the ground are working to make sure the death toll doesn’t rise amid life-threatening floods from massive rain pours.

“It is our job to make sure that number doesn’t climb through valiant search and rescue efforts, but we are dealing in the immediate aftermath of a terrible hurricane and many, many tornadoes ancillary to it,” he added.

Throughout the briefing, Mayorkas said the federal government is equipped with resources to fund immediate needs and shared that they were working on a continuing resolution but urged Congress to act “swiftly” upon their return.

— Ashleigh Fields

Biden called out former President Trump again during his remarks for what he says are “lies” being spread his political rival.

“Mr. President Trump, former president Trump, get a life man, help these people,” Biden said.

When pressed on whether he would speak with Trump, Biden emphatically said, “No.”

— Alex Gangitano

President Biden, in a storm update from the White House, said Congress should return from recess to pass more emergency funding.

“I think that Congress should be coming back and moving on the emergency needs immediately and they’re going to have to come back after the election as well,” Biden said.

He added that he has not yet spoken to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about returning.

“I think Congress should move as rapidly as it can,” Biden added, stressing that FEMA has funding but the Small Business Association funding is “pretty on the edge right now.”

— Alex Gangitano

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday condemned reports of online harassment of FEMA officials in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

“We’re seeing horrific hate speech of all types propagated on online platforms. That deplorable speech has an impact on people’s lives and it is also a motivating force for people to do harm. And it has got to stop,” Mayorkas told reporters at a White House press briefing.

Read more here.

— Brett Samuels

The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center released its rainfall totals for Hurricane Milton.

The St. Petersburg area received the most rainfall, with 18.87 inches, and the surrounding areas received double-digit totals.

Tampa International Airport, which stopped flights beginning Tuesday morning, received 11.73 inches.

At Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, 7.57 inches of rain fell, but wind gusts were reported to reach 102 mph.

Most of Florida’s central region experienced heavy rain and strong winds overnight, and recovery efforts are underway as many communities face flooding.

— Lauren Irwin

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters that FEMA has enough funds to handle the immediate needs of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, but he signaled more money will be needed soon.

“We will need additional funds, and we implore Congress when it returns to fund FEMA as is needed,” Mayorkas said at a White House press briefing.

— Brett Samuels

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he will head to Sarasota County to “inspect” the damage caused by Hurricane Milton. The area sustained 8 to 10 feet of water, and 215,000 in the county are without power, according to the FPL outage tracker. Tactical First in Teams (TFIT) began assessing damage in the area with the National Guard early Thursday morning, DeSantis said.

“We are very saddened to see the tornado inflict such damage, including the loss of life; they’re hard to withstand,” DeSantis said at an afternoon briefing.

Fourteen local schools are being used as Hurricane Evacuation Centers. Tatum Ridge Elementary and Booker High have the highest occupancy rates as of Thursday afternoon. Roads remain flooded and traffic signals in the area are out.

“What I’m asking for our citizens is to be patient. Don’t get out on the roads and get in the way of first responders that are trying to do their search and rescue,” Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman told Fox13 News.

— Ashleigh Fields

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said misinformation about storms “can cost human lives” as false claims about the recent hurricanes swirled online.

Frost called into CNN on Thursday from his Orlando, Fla., district and said he is hearing about misinformation from constituents.

“I’ve had several constituents kind of ask about things and we’ve had to dispel these myths. For some people, there’s been rumors left and right about FEMA,” Frost said. “And the problem here, when politicians like Donald Trump use a national disaster, a horrible disaster, to score political points, it can cost human lives.”

The aftermath of the recent Hurricane Helene sparked a flood of misinformation online and officials attempted to quell the rumors as Milton approached.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dealt with the fallout from a false claim former President Trump made about disaster aid going to migrants instead of hurricane victims.

“We need people to understand that government, state government, local government and the federal government work there to help you,” Frost said.

— Lauren Irwin

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Thursday he believes Floridians listened to the mandatory evacuation orders for the hurricane — and that will likely be reflected in the death toll.

At least four people died from a tornado in St. Lucie County. The state does not have confirmed reports of other fatalities yet, DeSantis said.

“We don’t have confirmed reports of other fatalities throughout the rest of the state, but we may as the day goes on,” he said.

“My sense is that a lot of the people did leave who were in the evacuation zones. I know we had over 80,000 people staying in shelters. You had massive, heavy traffic on the interstates over the last several days leading up to the storm, because I think people were deciding to just get out of dodge,” DeSantis said.

As many as 5.9 million people in the state were under mandatory evacuation orders, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated.

— Lauren Irwin

Former President Trump shared a video Thursday morning, sending well wishes to Florida residents impacted by Hurricane Milton.

“We are deeply saddened by the devastation being reported and its sounds like it’s as bad as it gets,” Trump said in the video, shared to Truth Social.

“Our hearts go out to each and every one of you. To those who have lost so much, know that you are not alone,” he added. “We’ve seen you stand tall against storms before, and you will stand tall now.”

He also praised recovery efforts led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the Sunshine State.

— Steff Danielle Thomas

President Biden will deliver remarks Thursday afternoon focused on the federal response to Hurricane Milton.

Biden and Vice President Harris received an update on the storm, which made landfall late Wednesday, earlier this morning.

His remarks are expected at 2 p.m. EDT, according to the White House.

— Steff Danielle Thomas

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Florida has an “abundance of resources” after the state avoided a “worst case scenario” with Hurricane Milton.

DeSantis provided updates at a Thursday press conference, where he said the storm didn’t “produce the worst case scenario in terms of storm surge.”

Milton was at one point predicted to reach Florida’s west coast as a Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane and officials sounded the alarm for a life-threatening 10 to 15-foot storm surge.

The storm decreased in intensity, but DeSantis said that doesn’t mean there won’t be “a lot of damage.”

He said there is “a lot we’re going to have to contend with, but just in terms of what we were prepped for, I think that we probably have an abundance of resources.”

“My sense is we’ll probably be able to release a lot of the search and rescue resources that we’ve had on hand very soon,” DeSantis said.

— Lauren Irwin

National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said the risk of more hurricanes will last “for the next few weeks at least.”

“But again, the main message to people in Florida and the Gulf Coast is it’s October,” Brennan told anchor Pamela Brown in an interview on “CNN Newsroom.” “This is the time [of] year when we tend to see these storms develop in this part of the [Atlantic Basin], and they can again, when they form close to home, they can develop and make landfall within just a few days.”

“So, that risk is gonna be there for the next few weeks at least,” Brennan added. “And a reminder for everybody, the hurricane season goes all the way through the end of November.”

— Tara Suter

Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said damage from Hurricane Milton “looks better than we had thought.”

“I had the opportunity to drive the streets a couple hours ago, and it looks better than we had thought,” Troche said in a video posted on the social media platform X.

However, Troche also urged Sarasota residents to not “rush home,” and said “we’re still trying to assess what’s going on, we still have downed power lines, we still have trees in the roadway” in the video.

“So the ask is, please stay home,” Troche said. “Have some patience, have some grace.”

— Tara Suter

The president spoke Thursday with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), the congresswoman said, with the two focusing on how to get more aid for hurricane victims.

“Just got off the phone with @POTUS Biden. He is personally overseeing that FEMA does not create problems with the debris removal and is supportive of the 15 Billion in FEMA funds ONLY FOR Hurricane victims,” Luna posted on X. “If Congress goes into a special session we can get it passed immediately. This needs to happen. @SpeakerJohnson call us back.”

Some Republicans have falsely claimed that FEMA has diverted money intended for disaster relief toward aid for migrants. FEMA and the White House have pushed back strenuously, noting the money comes from separately appropriated programs.

— Brett Samuels

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said two people had died amid Hurricane Milton.

He said in a press conference on Thursday that one death was “medical” while the other person was found in a park and their cause of death had not yet been released.

“You know, two people lost their loved ones, so,” Holloway said. “So, we did lose two people during the storm.”

Four people died from tornadoes caused by Milton in St. Lucie County on Wednesday, which is on Florida’s east coast, whereas St. Petersburg is on Florida’s west coast.

— Tara Suter

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday said Vice President Harris is trying to insert herself into the clean up effort.

The two have traded barbs around the storm throughout the week.

CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked DeSantis about his communication with the vice president and DeSantis responded that he is working with Biden and FEMA director Deanne Criswell directly.

“I didn’t even know she was trying to reach me, but she has no role in this process. And I’ve been dealing with these storms in Florida under both [former President] Trump and Biden. Neither of them ever politicized it. And, in fact, all the storms I’ve dealt with under this administration, although I’ve worked well with the president, she has never called in Florida. She has never offered any support,” DeSantis said.

The governor added, “So, what she’s doing is she’s trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign. So, as the governor here, who’s leading this, I don’t have time for those games. I don’t care about her campaign. Obviously, I’m not a support of hers.”

— Alex Gangitano

NBC News correspondent Tom Llamas and his crew fled live on-air Wednesday as Hurricane Milton swept around them in Sarasota.

“Welcome back to our live coverage of Hurricane Milton. The situation here in Sarasota is starting to turn dire,” Llamas said, obviously bracing against the wind.

“At first we had – oh, we’re going to go. We gotta go! We gotta go! We gotta go!” he said.

The moment was highlighted by Mediaite.

Llamas told the network’s anchor they were ok, but needed to move inside.

NBC News reporter Gadi Schwartz joined from the studio and narrated as the camera footage caught the crew running to safety as the storm whipped rain and debris around them.

“If you were watching just a few minutes ago, you saw Tom. He was walking out there in the street. He was walking in relative clam. We were just talking about how eerie it was and now that team is having to fall back to some safety,” Schwartz said.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper was also on the ground, reporting from Bradenton, Fla., when he was struck in the face by a flying object.

— Lauren Irwin

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said he’d spoken to President Biden about the response to and recovery from to Hurricane Milton.

Scott posted on X that he told the president he was “100% focused” on ensuring key agencies like FEMA, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are “fully funded & have boots on the ground until Florida is fully recovered.”

— Brett Samuels

President Biden told Floridians impacted by Hurricane Milton they should stay in place until local officials tell them it’s safe to venture outside.

“To everyone impacted by Hurricane Milton: I urge you stay inside and off the roads,” Biden posted on X.

Biden said downed power lines, debris and road washouts are creating dangerous conditions across the state.

“Help is on the way, but until it arrives, shelter in place until your local officials say it’s safe to go out,” he said.

Earlier Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said state officials were working to assess damage and were conducting recovery efforts.

The National Hurricane Center warned early Thursday that stormy conditions could persist throughout the day.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell said she was in touch with state leaders and briefed Biden on next steps in Florida.

— Lauren Irwin

Federal disaster aid is becoming a political football, with both parties trading accusations over the failure to pass more disaster relief as part of a government funding deal last month amid back-to-back hurricanes.

The last time disaster relief was so politicized before a presidential election was in 2012, when Republicans paid a political price for holding up disaster funding.

Some Republican lawmakers are accusing the Biden-Harris administration of dragging their feet on providing disaster relief funding to hard-hit areas in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina and putting pressure on leaders to think about convening an emergency session to approve tens of billions of dollars in more aid.

North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd (R) called the federal response to the destruction “flat-footed” while Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) grumbled that Florida and North Carolina would have gotten relief faster if they were renamed “Lebanon” and “Ukraine.”

Democrats, meanwhile, say they wanted to add tens of billions of dollars more in federal disaster relief funding to the short-term government funding measure that Congress passed in late September. House conservatives blocked them at the time, insisting on a “bare bones” continuing resolution (CR) instead.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

— Alexander Bolton

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne said Florida avoided the “worst case scenario” with Hurricane Milton.

“I’ve had an opportunity to talk with the governor today, as well as his team, and then give the president an update on what we’re seeing,” Criswell told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Thursday morning. “And I think what we know for sure is we avoided that worst case scenario that we were planning for.”

Criswell said the state’s preparation and planning for the worst ensured they were able to respond to the impacts, including the several tornadoes that touched down across the southern part of the state. Four people died in St. Lucie County due to the tornadoes.

She said state-level officials are assessing the area for what’s needed and FEMA has “pre-positioned resources” that will be able to help with “whatever they need.”

FEMA has been contending with online misinformation as disaster aid came into the spotlight after Hurricane Helene.

Criswell said local leaders have helped “push back” on false storm information and FEMA hasn’t seen a lot of misinformation about Milton, but her team stands ready to dispel that “distraction” to aid.

— Lauren Irwin

More than 100 residents of an assisted living facility in Tampa were being evacuated Thursday morning after Hurricane Milton swept through overnight.

Gary, one of the 135 residents evacuated from the facility, told CNN’s Isabel Rosales that they were cold from sitting or standing in the water overnight waiting until they were rescued by first responders.

“There was nothing we could do,” he said.

He noted that he was lucky enough to walk while other residents were immobile and had to be in wheelchairs.

Hillsborough County officials said the area saw flooding “never seen” before. The sheriff said Thursday the individuals in the area “did heed” the evacuation orders, so it must have been frightening to see such flooding in that area.

— Lauren Irwin