Several communities across the Tampa Bay area are still underwater after Hurricane Milton. Many families are still in the dark and gas is hard to come by.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said deputies have rescued 200 people and dozens of animals from floodwaters Thursday. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said it has rescued 730 people and 111 pets since Hurricane Milton made landfall. Tampa Police shared Friday that officers saved 102 residents and 16 animals.
In Tampa, trucks and cars were almost submerged. Their owners came back to pull them out Friday.
Many homes and businesses don't have power. Tampa’s mayor, Jane Castor, says 65% of the traffic lights in the city were down Friday morning. She added that the city is now going out to pick up the debris they weren't able to get after Hurricane Helene. She went on to say it's all hands on deck.
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“We are doing all that we can,” Castor said.
The city is working to pump water out of neighborhoods.
The water is up to Marcus Breunig's Tampa home. He doesn’t have power but has a generator, but he knows many of his neighbors don't.
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“This water's not going anywhere, so we're just hoping,” Breunig’s said. “I mean we're alright, it sucks to see what happened to them, there's a lot of comradery; people are helping each other the best they can down there.”
Breunig lives in the University Square neighborhood of Tampa. He says the water hasn’t gone down.
Kim and Cynthia Williams live across the street and are also in the dark. They say, thankfully, their neighbors have been helping feed them.
“(Our spirits are) up and down,” Williams said. “We’re stuck and we can’t get out.”
Another concern in Tampa is finding gas.
There were lines of people standing outside the gas pumps and waiting to fill up their cans and cars at Wawa.
“We had a guy come by and pay $300 worth of gas, so the line could move, so that was pretty generous of him,” Nick Batchelor said. “Everybody is being pretty reasonable, nothing crazy.”
Mayor Castor says once they can pump water out of the port, they can ship the fuel out.
“We'll get people the fuel that they need,” Castor said.
One of many needs people across Tampa are crossing their fingers for. The Williams are trying to remain hopeful.
“We were hoping it dissipates after 24 hours, but as you can see, it has not,” Williams said.
