Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Thursday, with most of Florida feeling the wrath and devastation of the storm. A category 3 upon landing, it matched the landfall strength of Hurricane Katrina, and had followed Hurricane Helene, which landed just 13 days earlier, causing an estimated 40 billion dollars in damage and being ranked as the fourth deadliest storm since 1950 (Courier Journal).
While sparing the large city of Tampa Bay from direct impact, the storm made its presence felt in the city, dumping almost a foot of rain there and causing destruction throughout the city, including shredding the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays’s Tropicana Stadium. Rain was also heavy across the area, peaking at over 18 inches in the nearby city of St. Petersburg. Storm surges left the most affected counties in up to ten feet of water.
By the time the storm had reached the Atlantic, at least 16 were confirmed dead and an estimated 160-180 billion dollars in damage had been done to various counties and buildings across Florida, including leaving an estimated 3.2 million people without power, with nearly 2.3 million still with the lights out (Poweroutage).
Such an extreme series of natural disasters this close to an election also has been recognized across the political spectrum as what could be a key turning point in the 2024 election. Craig Keshishian wrote for the Daily Mail about how displaced and devastated Floridian citizens could affect voting in the state, stating that “Of all the 15 Florida counties under mandatory state evacuation orders, 14 are dominantly, if not overwhelmingly, Republican … The total number of registered Republican voters in those 15 counties [under mandatory evacuation] is slightly over two million, while the number of registered Democrats in those same counties is about 1.2 million … Approximately 800,000 more registered Republicans than registered Democrats in the state of Florida are being told to get out of their homes.” (Daily Mail)
The devastating consequences of two hurricanes hitting Florida has led to Governor Ron DeSantis signing an executive order to loosen voting restrictions, a change from his previous campaigns on strict voting regulations, a sudden change that presidential candidate Donald Trump has also adopted in the wake of the devastation in three crucial states for the upcoming election. For both parties, every vote counts in states such as Florida, especially considering Florida was only won by 370 thousand voters by Trump in 2020, despite having 12 million voters and a very high voter turnout. (Daily Mail)
Numerous other important votes will appear on the Florida ballot with the presidential candidates, such as the right to abortion, and legalized marijuana in the state, and with the disproportional number of registered Republicans to Democrats after the disasters, the impact and recovery following the hurricanes could cause lasting political change in the state.
