Hurricane Milton ravages Tampa Bay cities as resourceful first responders help residents in need

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Standard Apartments was not in a mandatory evacuation zone, and when Hurricane Helene passed through the region, there was no flooding. That all changed early Thursday morning as residents weathering Hurricane Milton started to see the waters rise in the parking lots and into the first-floor apartments.

By 8:00 a.m., those who did not get out before the water rose up to six or eight feet were stranded in second-floor units. Multiple calls went out for any first responders with boats or high-water vehicles to help rescue trapped people from the complex.

Blaze Media was with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers who were sent to the Tampa Bay area ahead of Milton making landfall. FWC is Florida's law enforcement and research agency that protects the state's famous wildlife and resources. FWC used a swamp buggy to help the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office take people and their pets out of the flooded area.

Millions of Floridians lost power, and wind damage was extensive.

The task was made difficult because the water level was high enough to reach up to first responders' necks but was too shallow for bigger boats to be used. The swamp buggy offered a key advantage in that it allowed more people to be taken away in one trip, but it was also limited to the more shallow parts of the flooded zone.

At first, the mission was to take only residents who wished to leave as some who lived on the second floor said they wanted to stay, but that changed after authorities expressed concerns about water messing with the electricity and potentially starting fires. The order was given to evacuate everyone out of the apartments.

Within five hours, FWC, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, and Clearwater's police and firefighters ferried over 450 people out of the area.

Thursday's rescue operation in Clearwater was one of the few that needed so many emergency personnel. That is because Hurricane Milton, while still a strong storm, did not make landfall into Tampa Bay. A landfall there would have been devastating as the 15-foot storm surge would have brought the water not just into the peninsula, but also to Downtown Tampa and the immediate surrounding area with a larger population.

Milton landed just south in Sarasota County, demonstrating how close to an epic disaster Tampa Bay came. While the worst-case scenario did not take place, millions of Floridians lost power, and wind damage was extensive. Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday morning said power had been restored to over 630,000 accounts by 6:00 a.m.

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