Hurricane Milton caused at least $160 billion in damage and economic loss, according to a preliminary estimate from AccuWeather. (Photo: City of Tampa)

The Category 3 hurricane hit Florida Wednesday night, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Total losses could be up to $180 billion, making it one of the most damaging storms in Florida history, AccuWeather said.

Milton came on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which AccuWeather projected caused at least $225 billion in damage and economic loss.

“With Hurricane Milton’s total damage and economic losses of $160-180 billion, the sum of two hurricanes in just three weeks elapsed time has a total damage and economic loss of near 2% of the country’s GDP,” AccuWeather founder and Executive Chairman Joel N. Myers said in a statement.

Destructive winds over Florida led to millions of homes and businesses losing power. As of Friday, 2.4 million customers were without power, according to PowerOutage.us. 

Dwindling fuel supply, possible agricultural damage

Fuel supplies that had dwindled ahead of the storm remained low Friday. Over a quarter of gas stations across the state were out of fuel, according to Gas Buddy. The Tampa and St. Petersburg areas were the most impacted: Nearly 75% of gas stations had no fuel.

Milton’s damage to the agricultural industry in Florida could exacerbate problems farmers are already facing post-Helene. Significant agricultural damage was reported after Helene hit the state, the Florida Farm Bureau said. 

Damage from Helene included to poultry, bees, beef cattle, dairy, cotton, peanuts and citrus, the Farm Bureau reported. Prices for fruits and vegetables could increase in stores in the coming weeks, AccuWeather said.

The full extent of Milton’s damage has not yet been realized, David Spencer, market intelligence vice president at Arrive Logistics, told FreightWaves.

“I believe the bulk of the impact is definitely going to be felt in the immediate post-storm needs,” he said.

Pointing to Helene, Spencer said he is seeing the greatest impact on open-deck and flatbed equipment in terms of nationwide rate movements. Any lasting impact will likely occur on this equipment type, he said.

“Yes, there is surging regional demand for relief needs, but we expect excess supply in the market to be able to absorb the short-lived demand surge and normal seasonal volatility to resume as the main freight market narrative for van and reefer equipment,” he said.

The current market fundamentals, including a large contract-to-spot rate spread, should not cause more than a brief surge in spot demand, he said.

The port’s fuel terminal partners have fuel ready to deploy to the region but lack power, the port said in an update Friday morning. Officials hope the fuel terminals can begin operations again Friday and are working with energy supplier Teco to expedite the process.

Port President and CEO Paul Anderson has met with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office about the fuel status to determine whether additional resources need to be dispatched to Florida.

SeaPort Manatee, one of the largest U.S. gateways for imports of fresh fruits and vegetables, was without power Thursday night.

Carrier disruptions

Milton could impact FedEx deliveries in Florida and across the Southeast, the company said in a statement on Friday. The company said it had activated contingency plans.

The U.S. Postal Service had suspended operations in several Florida ZIP codes but resumed business on Friday. Some Florida post offices in Milton’s path were closed indefinitely.

Over 900 ZIP codes in Florida were impacted for Postal Service deliveries.

XPO Inc. had closed seven facilities in Florida because of Milton as of Thursday.

Southeastern Freight Lines and Estes both had facility closures and limited operations in the state.

Schneider National was assessing its Winter Haven facility but said no other facilities were damaged.
Service was interrupted for ArcBest across Florida. Service centers were closed in Fort Myers, Sarasota and Tampa.

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