One year after Hurricane Milton battered Southwest Florida, signs of recovery are visible from Manasota Key to downtown Punta Gorda, the same places that were left under water when the Category 3 storm made landfall near Siesta Key around 8:30 p.m. on October 9.
Just 13 days after Hurricane Helene, Milton followed a devastating one-two punch for coastal Charlotte County. The storm weakened through the day, but still packed 100-mile-per-hour winds and produced catastrophic surge — with water levels reaching up to 10 feet above ground on Manasota Key, and waves cresting closer to 15 feet.
Watch Fox 4’s Alex Orenczuk report on the year of recovery following Hurricane Milton:
A year after Hurricane Milton, recovery shines across coastal Charlotte County
When Milton hit, Charlotte County ordered evacuations for Zones A and B. Wind gusts reached 80 miles per hour, and storm surge pushed five to eight feet of water into the northern reaches of Charlotte Harbor and up the Peace River. A U.S. Geological Survey gauge near Shell Creek measured 8.86 feet above NGVD29, about a foot and a half higher than Helene’s peak just two weeks earlier…