With Milton in the rearview, Tampa Bay is looking toward recovery

Power outages. Water restrictions. Lack of fuel. Congested streets.

Hurricane Milton is long over, but the challenges have just begun.

On Friday, officials continued to assess the damage around Tampa Bay and gave strong assurances that help is on the way.

But the road to recovery is likely to be long. As many residents return home and begin cleanup and repairs, here’s what you should know today.

Track power outages across the state.

Find resources including food, FEMA and WiFi.

See which shops and attractions are open this weekend.

Find a hot meal around Tampa Bay.

11:15 a.m. Tampa’s domestic water system is back in operation

Tampa’s treated water system has been put back into operation, the city announced Saturday morning. It said users should ensure their irrigation controls are properly programmed after the storm and reminded them not to use water in a “wasteful manner.”

– Jack Evans

11:10 a.m. Lightning wins the season opener away, but their thoughts are at home

The Lightning opened the NHL season with a comfortable 4-1 win on Friday evening in Raleigh, North Carolina. But her thoughts were with the fans at home who are still picking up the pieces from Hurricane Milton.

It was also an easy decision not to play Saturday night in Tampa at Amalie Arena, which sustained no damage.

“There was no way we could have gone back and played a game (Saturday),” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “First of all… what do we do with our city when everyone is trying to make amends for some of the tragedy that happened? And we need to go back and do the same and reassess what damage has been done to our places. And we have to do it in daylight because there is no electricity.”

The Lightning have another home game on Tuesday, but things could be in flux. While the main arena is fine, the Lightning’s practice facility, the TGH IcePlex in Brandon, lost power, rendering the ice there unusable.

— Eduardo A. Encina

10:50 a.m.: Fuel returns to Tampa Bay as drivers line up at gas stations

When asked for an update on fuel usage Saturday, Port Tampa Bay spokeswoman Lisa Wolf-Chason pointed to a news release Friday evening that said power had been restored to all seven private fuel terminals at the port. Safety tests were carried out to ensure that the fuel could be distributed without problems. Some gas station operators had already started providing tank trucks to deliver to local gas stations. The port said in the news release that it hopes to have all seven terminals distributing fuel by Saturday.

On Friday evening, vehicles lined up at gas stations in St. Petersburg waiting for fuel delivery. As one driver pulled away, several others were ready to take his place.

— Justin Garcia and Martha Asencio Rhine

10:40 a.m. Biden approves FEMA aid for Florida counties affected by Milton

President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Florida on Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Saturday. This means people in nearly three dozen counties affected by Hurricane Milton can now receive FEMA assistance.

The declaration covers all counties in the Tampa Bay region and means local governments in those areas, the state and Florida’s Miccosukee Indian Tribe can receive federal funding to recover from the storm.

Read more here.

– Jack Evans

10 a.m. St. Petersburg opens comfort stations this weekend

St. Petersburg will open three comfort and charging stations this weekend. All three are open Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You will also have supplies available such as water bottles, batteries and cleaning kits.

The locations are:

• Frank Pierce Recreation Center, 2000 7th St. S
• Childs Park Recreation Center, 4301 13th Ave. S
• Roberts Recreation Center, 1246 50th Ave. N

– Jack Evans

9:30am: Rivers are still high following delayed flooding

On Friday, rivers in Hillsborough and Pasco counties that had been flooded by torrential rain from Milton burst their banks, a delayed disaster that caused near-record flooding and required rescue efforts in some areas. A day later, these waterways were still in flood stage, although some of them had begun to sink.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Alafia River in Hillsborough County, which reached levels not measured since 1933 and forced Lithia residents to evacuate their homes at dawn Friday, was cresting at about 24 feet Friday morning falling to about 22 feet Saturday morning. The agency’s forecast calls for the river to steadily decline but remain at flood stage for several days.

It was a similar story with the Anclote River in Pasco County, which also reached near record levels Friday and led to road closures in west Pasco. According to the agency, water levels there began to fall Saturday morning, and the agency predicted it would fall below flood level sometime Monday morning or early afternoon.

Pasco officials said they were also keeping an eye on Cypress Creek in the Land O’ Lakes area, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast had already reached record levels as of Saturday morning and is still rising. The peak is expected to reach a height of about 15 feet early Monday morning, surpassing a record of 13.8 feet set in 2004, before slowly falling.

– Jack Evans

9:10 a.m. Dozens of Pasco parks remain closed “until further notice.”

More than two dozen parks and recreation complexes in Pasco County will be closed indefinitely as the county recovers from Hurricanes Milton and Helene, a Facebook post said Saturday morning.

The closures affect 26 locations across the district. A complete list can be found here.

– Jack Evans

9 a.m. Feeding Tampa Bay will be distributing food at events throughout the region

Feeding Tampa Bay will distribute food at emergency distribution events in six counties on Saturday. They are:

• 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Gulfview Grace Church, 6639 Hammock Road, Port Richey
• 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Jewett School of the Arts, 2250 8th St. NE, Winter Haven
• Noon-2 p.m., Causeway Center, 3624 Causeway Blvd., Tampa
• Noon-2 p.m., Palmetto Boys and Girls Club, 1600 10th St. W, Palmetto
• Noon-2 p.m., South Oak First Baptist Church, 125 South Oak Ave., Lake Placid
• Noon-2 p.m., TradeWinds Resort, 5500 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach

– Jack Evans

8:30 a.m. Electric utilities announce timelines for restoring power

Tampa Electric Co. said it plans to restore power to “substantially all” customers in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties by Oct. 17. But many would see power restored before then. In both counties, 55% of customers will have power on Sunday and 75% on Tuesday. Customers in Pasco County should expect power to be restored by Oct. 14, and in Polk County it should be by the next day.

As of Friday evening, the utility said it had restored power to more than half of the nearly 600,000 customers who lost power during Hurricane Milton.

Duke Energy said the majority of customers in Pasco and Pinellas counties would have power restored by Oct. 15. The company said Brevard, Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties should have power secured by Oct. 13. On Friday, the company said it had restored service to 350,000 customers, while more than 850,000 were still without power.

Read more here.

— Justin García

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