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Mayor Castor lays out Hurricane Milton recovery plan for Tampa

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Updated  October 10, 2024 7:25am EDT
Hurricane Milton
FOX 13 News

 

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TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, joined by Police Chief Lee Bercaw and Fire Chief Barbara Tripp, held a news conference Thursday morning about the damage the city of Tampa sustained during Hurricane Milton.

Hurricane Milton barreled through Florida after making landfall on the Gulf coast Wednesday night, bringing record levels of rain and wind to the Tampa Bay region. The City of Tampa was no exception, with thousands of people fleeing the city to safer ground before the storm.

"We survived through Milton," Castor said. "We appreciate everyone heeding the order to evacuate and going to safety."

Mayor Castor news conference after Hurricane Milton

Mayor Castor's news conference went over the city's clean-up efforts after Hurricane Milton.

Castor referred to the predicted storm surge never coming as a "blessing" and said that the city's next step is to complete damage assessment reviews to determine where to push teams needed for debris cleanup. Those assessments will begin today.

While the scale of debris cleanup is unknown, Castor said that "over half a million TECO customers are out of electricity" in Tampa and that the electric company will deploy technicians today to restore power to residents during the daybreak.

READ: Hillsborough County urging everyone to be mindful of water usage

Castor also explained that due to rainfall totals reaching nearly 18 inches during Hurricane Milton, the city’s wastewater could leak into the city’s natural water supply.

"Our wastewater plant usually runs around 180 million gallons," Castor said. "It's about 220 right now."

Castor assured, however, that the city has already deployed crews "through the night" that have generators pumping down the excess wastewater.

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