Hurricane Milton Latest: Millions Still In The Dark, At Least 17 Dead

Updated, 4:20 p.m. Friday

FLORIDA — Millions of Floridians were still without power Friday, two days after Hurricane Milton hit the state's Gulf Coast as a powerful Category 3 storm. At least 16 people are dead as residents continue to assess the damage and begin cleanup efforts.

Arriving just two weeks after Hurricane Helene, Milton also knocked out power to more than 3.4 million customers, flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off Tampa Bay Rays stadium and toppled a construction crane in St. Petersburg.

On Friday afternoon, more than 2.1 million Florida utility customers statewide were still without power, according to PowerOutage.US. A bulk of the outages were in Hillsborough and Pinellas County.

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In a Friday afternoon update, Duke Energy officials estimated power would be restored to Brevard, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties by midnight Sunday.

Power in Pasco and Pinellas counties should be restored by midnight Tuesday, the company said.

NBC News reported that at least 17 people have been confirmed dead after Milton slammed into the state.

Bruce Kinsler, a Polk County Roads and Drainage worker, died Thursday morning while he was working to remove debris from a road, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Kinsler died after a man hit the fallen tree with his pickup truck, pushing it into Kinsler and one of his co-workers.

In Volusia County, authorities said two people, a 79-year-old woman in Ormond Beach and a 54-year-old woman in Port Orange, were also killed when trees fell on homes. In Tampa, police found the body of a woman in her 70s on Thursday morning beneath a large tree branch. Two people also died in St. Pete, though the cause of their deaths was unclear.

At least five deaths occurred in the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Fort Pierce after the area was hit by tornadoes on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Other deaths were reported in Citrus and Orange County, NBC News reported.

At least 1,600 people and 140 animals have been rescued in ongoing efforts, DeSantis said Friday morning during a news conference in St. Petersburg.

Arguably one of the most dramatic rescues was performed by the U.S. Coast Guard when they found a man clinging to a cooler approximately 30 miles off Longboat Key.

The man spent a night in the Gulf of Mexico after his fishing boat was stranded in waters roiled by Hurricane Milton. The agency estimated the man had survived winds of 75 to 90 mph and waves up to 25 feet high.

Hillsborough County officers also found a 14-year-old boy submerged in floodwaters and floating on a piece of fence, Sheriff Chad Chronister said on social media. Officers were able to pull the boy to safety.

Authorities also rescued more than 425 people and 45 pets from floodwaters in a Clearwater apartment complex, DeSantis said. Residents of an assisted living facility in Hillsborough County were also 147 rescued.

During the storm, damaging winds and record-setting rainfall targeted parts of the state and largely impacted Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota counties. Up to 18 inches of rain fell in Pinellas and coastal Hillsborough counties, and areas northward toward Gainesville and along parts of the Interstate 4 corridor felt about 5-10 inches of rainfall, DeSantis said.

"While the worst-case scenario was thankfully avoided with this storm, it still brought destruction and damage to many parts of the state," DeSantis said.

Those who need help with damages can call Florida’s Crisis Cleanup hotline at 844-965-1386. Residents may also call 833-GET-HOPE for free assistance and resources such as food, household goods and debris removal.

Here is the latest on the storm aftermath:

• As of 6:30 p.m., electricity was out to more 2.3 million, according to poweroutage.us. The state has restored 1,654,575 customers. MORE: See Map, Hardest Hit Areas, Restoration Estimates
• Milton's total damages are estimated between $160 and $180 billion, according to AccuWeather.
• The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office deployed 23 Urban Search & Rescue Teams comprised of more than 1,600 personnel across the state.
• Thirty-eight strike teams embedded with local law enforcement in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Charlotte, Lee, and Sarasota counties are continuing search, rescue and recovery efforts.
• As of Friday, there were 26 active boil water notices as a result of Hurricane Milton, including two in Sarasota and Pinellas County, as well as orders in Hillsborough, Manatee and Pasco counties.
• Major flooding is continuing to increase in several areas throughout Hillsborough County, creating dangerous conditions for residents in those areas. See affected areas.
• Pasco County is experiencing historical flooding in low-lying areas and in several neighborhoods around the county near our rivers and lakes. Water is quickly rising in these areas, and residents are encouraged to leave and get to higher ground.
• Access to the barrier islands, including Casey Key, Manasota Key, Siesta Key, and Longboat Key, were closed to the public as of Friday. Only residents and business owners will be allowed onto the islands.
• I-4, I-75, I-95 and Alligator Alley are cleared and open for travel.
• The Sunshine Skyway, the Gandy Bridge, the Howard Frankland Bridge, and the Courtney Campbell Causeway area have been inspected, cleared and reopened.
• Several roads throughout the Tampa Bay region remain closed due to flooding or debris. See the full list of roads here.
• Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport remain closed. Tampa International Airport is open and operational.
• 75% of traffic signals in the impacted area are operational. Crews are working to deploy generators to temporarily restore power to locations that are non-operational.
• The gas price tracking system GasBuddy's outage map showed several Sarasota stations had limited fuel options but only three were completely without power and gas.
• Some Florida schools remained closed Friday.
• The State of Florida partnered with Uber and Lyft to provide residents in mandatory evacuation zones free rides returning home from local shelters. For Uber, use promo code MILTONRELIEF1. For Lyft, use promo code MILTONRELIEF24.

The National Weather Service issued the following active warnings and alerts:

• A flood warning was in effect for rivers in Manatee, Pasco, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Polk, Levy and Citrus counties.
• A rip current statement was in effect for Pinellas, coastal Hillsborough, coastal Manatee,
  coastal Sarasota, coastal Charlotte and coastal Lee counties.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.