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RFlorida residents have been left reeling from Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm that has caused at least 14 deaths, 3.4 million power outages and significant damage that has yet to be determined.

Hundreds of people were rescued Thursday in the aftermath of the storm, which brought historic rainfall to Tampa, threw debris and trees through the streets and left the Tampa Bay Rays’ St. Petersburg field in ruins.

Amid evacuation warnings for millions of people, experts had warned this could be one of the deadliest and most destructive storms in recent years, just as residents began picking up the pieces from last month’s Hurricane Helene.

With the toll of its destruction still unknown, how does Milton compare to the most fatal hurricanes of the 21st century?

Hurricane Milton first made landfall Wednesday evening near Siesta Key in western Florida, packing maximum sustained winds of 125 mph. The hurricane spawned dozens of tornadoes, heavy rain and 28-foot waves on the Gulf Coast.

Although Milton strengthened to a Category 5 over the Gulf of Mexico, it weakened before making landfall.

Florida is no stranger to hurricanes, with Category 4 Helene wreaking havoc just a few weeks earlier. Of the seven deadliest hurricanes since the year 2000, four have had major impacts in Florida, as shown in the map above. Those four complement Helene.

All of the most fatal hurricanes have come in from the Atlantic Ocean and have gained speed, size and pressure in the Gulf of Mexico as they enter the warm waters.

By the end of Thursday, the death toll from Hurricane Milton stood at fourteen people, although the situation was developing rapidly. Search and rescue operations were still underway in the state on Thursday evening.

The deadliest hurricane of this century so far remains 2005’s Katrina, which killed 1,392 people. The vast majority of those deaths were confirmed in Louisiana, with many in the city of New Orleans.

Yet close behind is the recent Hurricane Helene, with a death toll of over 228, and possibly more as hundreds are still missing. The most affected states were the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.

Hurricanes can cause billions of dollars in damage within hours and days.

Since the year 2000, the seven deadliest hurricanes alone have caused more than half a trillion dollars in damage ($570 million+), without even counting the dozens of others that have hit land.

Hurricane Ian was the costliest hurricane in recent history in 2022, causing $133 billion in damage throughout Florida and particularly in the Carolinas.

Because it has been less than 24 hours since Milton made landfall, its impact cannot yet be measured; but Hurricane Helene is already estimated to have caused at least $30 billion and as much as $47 billion, as well as flood and wind losses, most of which were uninsured. AccuWeather said Thursday that preliminary estimates of damage and economic loss are between $160 billion and $180 billion.

Because Florida is so exposed to hurricanes and consequential damage, there are concerns about the viability of insurance for local homes and businesses in the future.

Millions were left without power

According to tracker PowerOutage.US, power outages due to Hurricane Milton peaked at 3.4 million customers, with dozens of Florida counties losing power over the past day.

As of mid-Thursday afternoon, more than three-quarters of customers in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties — around the Tampa area — had reported power outages, according to tracker FindEnergy. This concerns hundreds of thousands of homes.

The map below shows that the power outages are concentrated in central and western Florida, along the path of the hurricane.

This puts Milton high on the list of hurricanes that have affected electricity supplies and infrastructure.

Hurricane Irma in 2017, with peak sustained winds of 130 mph, led to power outages for more than 6.7 million customers in at least six states.

Meanwhile, other hurricanes like Ida in 2021 may have been stronger and caused more financial damage, but had less impact on energy supplies.

Ties to climate change

On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents they could see more hurricane activity in the coming months. The Atlantic hurricane season runs until the end of November.

While storms taper off in October, this is the third most active month of the season for tropical activity in the Atlantic Basin, according to FOX Weather.

Hurricanes need two ingredients to form: warm water and wind. They start in tropical areas, where the ocean is at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

The hot ocean water evaporates, creating warm, moist air. Wind also causes even more evaporation. The moist air rises high into the planet’s atmosphere, where it begins to cool. The water vapor then condenses back into water droplets. The drops form storm clouds. As warm air continues to rise from the ocean, winds blow in a circular motion around the center and storm clouds gather. Once those winds reach a maximum sustained wind speed of 75 mph, the cyclone is officially a hurricane.

The Gulf of Mexico has seen record warm ocean temperatures in recent months. These conditions add gasoline to a hurricane and fuel the rapid intensification we see at Milton.

Hurricane Milton was the strongest late-season storm on record in the Gulf, and the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Rita in 2005.

Climate change, which has led to marine heat waves in most of the world, is causing hurricanes to bring more intense rainfall and greater storm surge from rising seas.