Biden assesses Hurricane Milton's devastation in Florida

United States President Joe Biden has promised to provide continued support to Florida communities affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helene as he surveyed storm-related destruction in the southeastern US state, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

During a news conference on Sunday, Biden said people had “lost family members [and] lost all their personal belongings” after the storms pummelled Florida over the past few weeks.

“Entire neighbourhoods were flooded and millions – millions – were without power,” he told reporters in St Pete Beach, a resort city on a barrier island just west of St Petersburg, on Florida’s west coast.

“Homeowners have taken a real beating in back-to-back storms and they’re heartbroken and exhausted, and their expenses are piling up,” Biden said.

While Hurricane Milton was not as catastrophic as initially predicted, the storm lashed Florida with torrential rain and dangerous winds last week, killing at least 18 people and destroying more than 100 buildings.

Milton hit just two weeks after Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida in late September and carved a path inland as it brought dangerous flash flooding and winds to several US states, including hard-hit North Carolina.

During Biden’s tour of Florida on Sunday, street corners were filled with debris alongside felled palm trees and homes with busted pastel-painted garage doors as the smell of mouldy building materials filled the air.

Heaps of mattresses, siding, couches, microwave ovens, pillows and busted-up kitchen cabinets lined the roads, some still covered in large patches of sand, as the US president walked through with emergency responders. One photo album still lay scattered in the street.

“I know you’re concerned about the debris removal and it’s obvious why,” he said during the news conference in St Pete Beach. “There’s much more to do. We’re doing everything we can.”

Flooding is expected to continue around Tampa Bay as well as in the Sanford area northeast of Orlando as river waters continue to rise, according to the National Weather Service.

About 75 percent of Florida’s power is back online, with full restoration expected by Tuesday evening, said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, who travelled with Biden.

More gasoline distribution sites are also scheduled to open on Sunday, according to the state’s emergency operations centre.

But five days after the storm hit, about 927,000 customers still do not have power, according to the online tracker PowerOutage.us.

“It’s still a mess,” Liz Alpert, the mayor of Sarasota, a city south of Tampa, told ABC News’s This Week programme.

Alpert added, however, that “it’s been heartening to see all of the outpouring of support and help that people have been offering”.

News.Az