Mike Wright
Citrus County planned for the worst and hoped for the best.
While it didn’t escape unscathed, county officials were overall pleased that Hurricane Milton’s winds and rain caused little more than fallen trees and power outages.
Crystal River Mayor Joe Meek, whose painstaking Facebook posts detailed a 6-foot surge during Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago, welcomed Milton’s aftermath Thursday morning.
“Some damage reports from wind on a few commercial businesses … and I have seen pictures of some seawalls collapsing, as a result of the extreme low tides,” Meek said. “Overall though, not bad. I will take this over storm surge any day.”
The hurricane did produce one Citrus County fatality. Authorities said an Inverness man died early Thursday morning when the car he was driving struck a fallen tree on Parsons Point Road in Hernando.
Citrus County Commission Chair Holly Davis said Citrus fared better than expected.
“We really lucked out here in Citrus County with Milton,” she said. “Wind speed may have gusted to just barely hurricane force, but most of the readings were 50-70 mph county-wide.”
Emergency workers scrambled Thursday to clear trees from roadways and powerlines. Power companies were trying to restore electricity to 40,000 customers; by 3 p.m., the number was closer to 25,000.
Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) warned customers it might take a while to get the lights turned back on.
“Hurricane Milton’s heavy rains and high-speed winds have caused thousands of power outages across our service area,” SECO said on its outage website. “SECO Energy home team crews and mutual aid crews are out in full force to restore service to all affected. Restoration may last for days.”
Officials lifted the mandatory evacuation, and shelters were being emptied of storm evacuees. The 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. curfew for areas west of U.S. 19, related to Hurricane Helene cleanup, remains in effect.
Schools are closed through the week, though Citrus County government offices are open Friday.
Davis said attention will soon return to Helene aftermath.
“Comfort stations should be returning soon to Homosassa and Ozello,” she said. “Our west coast has a long road to recovery ahead from Helene damage. I’m just grateful Milton didn’t add much to it.”
