Residents repair their homes and clean up after Hurricane Milton tore through Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida residents repaired damage from Hurricane Milton and cleaned up debris Friday after the storm smashed through coastal communities and tore homes to pieces, flooded streets and spawned a barrage of deadly tornadoes.

At least eight people were dead, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. The hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.

Arriving just two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helene, the system flooded barrier islands, tore the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays ' baseball stadium and toppled a construction crane.

As residents assessed damage to their property, over 2.5 million customers in Florida remained without power Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us. But the state’s vital tourism industry started to return to normal, with several theme parks preparing to reopen.

A flood of vehicles headed south Thursday evening on Interstate 75, the main highway that runs through the middle of the state, as relief workers and evacuated residents returned to assess the aftermath. Bucket trucks and fuel tankers streamed by, along with portable bathroom trailers and a convoy of emergency vehicles.

As residents raced back to find out whether their homes were destroyed or spared, finding gas was still a challenge. Fuel stations were still closed as far away as Ocala, more than a two and a half hour drive north of where the storm made landfall as a Category 3 near Siesta Key in Sarasota County on Wednesday night.

Natasha Ducre and her husband, Terry, were just feeling lucky to be alive. Milton peeled the tin roof off of their cinderblock home in their neighborhood a few blocks north of the Manatee River, about a 45-minute drive south of Tampa. She pushed to leave as the storm barreled toward them Wednesday night after he resisted evacuating their three-bedroom house where he grew up and where the couple lived with their three kids and two grandchildren. She believes the decision saved their lives.

They returned to find the roof of their home scattered in sheets across the street, the wooden beams of what was their ceiling exposed to the sky. Inside, fiberglass insulation hung down in shreds, their belongings soaked by the rain and littered with chunks of shattered drywall.

“It ain’t much, but it was ours. What little bit we did have is gone,” she said. “It’s gone.”

With shelters no longer available and the cost of a hotel room out of reach, they plan to cram into Terry Ducre's mother’s house for now. After that, they’re not sure.

“I don’t have no answers,” Natasha Ducre said. “What is my next move? What am I going to do?”

Meanwhile, Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen Friday after an assessment of the effects of the storm.

Orlando International Airport, the state’s busiest, said departures for domestic flights and international flights would resume Friday, after resuming domestic arrivals Thursday evening. The airport had minor damage, including a few leaks and downed trees.

Milton prevented Simon Forster, his wife and their two children from returning to Scotland as planned Wednesday evening, so they enjoyed an extra two days of their two-week vacation on a bustling International Drive in Orlando’s tourism district on Thursday. Hurricanes seem to follow them since 2022's Hurricane Ian kept them from returning to Scotland after another Orlando vacation.

“Two extra days here, there are worse places we could be," he said.

This story has been updated to correct the last name of the couple whose home was severely damaged. It is Ducre, not Shannon.

Payne and Daley reported from Palmetto, Florida. Associated Press journalists Holly Ramer and Kathy McCormack in New Hampshire; Terry Spencer in Matlacha, Florida; Stephany Matat in Fort Pierce, Florida; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale; Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis; and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

A tree toppled by Hurricane Milton lies atop a stately home in Siesta Key, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A truck drives down a flooded street in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A broken sign and other debris lie alongside Gilligan's Island Bar & Grill after the passage of Hurricane Milton, in Siesta Key, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

People from Sarasota, Fla., visit a familiar beach on Siesta Key, Fla., which they say was already decimated by Hurricane Helene, and lost feet more of sand coverage in Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A car backs up after encountering deeper water on a flooded street in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Natasha Ducre surveys the kitchen of her devastated home, which lost most of its roof during the passage of Hurricane Milton, in Palmetto, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Ducre, her husband, three children, and two grandkids rode out the storm in a government shelter and returned to find their home unlivable and much of their furniture and belongings destroyed by rainwater. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A piece of debris is wrapped high around a tree in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A tree lies atop a stately home in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A pick up drives past a guard gate on a flooded street in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Flood waters recede after Hurricane Milton, on streets where piles of debris from Hurricane Helene flooding, sit outside many homes, in Siesta Key, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on Friday, the latest step on the Ukrainian president's European tour to win support for his proposed “victory plan” aimed at ending the war with Russia.

The pope and the Ukrainian leader held private talks for 35 minutes. After their private meeting at the Sala della Biblioteca and the presentation of the Ukrainian delegation, Francis gave Zelenskyy a bronze plaque depicting a flower and an inscription reading: “Peace is a fragile flower.”

In turn, Zelenskyy gifted the pontiff with an oil painting portraying “The massacre of Bucha. The story of Marichka.” Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and witnessed some of Russia’s worst atrocities against civilians.

Later Friday, Zelenskyy met the Vatican's secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.

“The discussions were dedicated to the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, as well as the ways in which it could be brought to an end, leading to just and stable peace in the country,” the Vatican said in a statement, adding that “some matters relating to the religious life of the country were also examined.”

Since the first Russian attack on Kyiv, there have been multiple contacts between Francis and Zelenskyy, through visits, letters and phone calls.

The pope sparked some criticism from Ukrainian leaders in March when he suggested they should have the courage of the “white flag” negotiating an end to the war with Russia, in what was intepreted by many as a call to surrender.

Francis has repeatedly and strongly for an end to the war, focusing on prisoner exchanges and on reaching a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian conflict.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi was sent as a special envoy on a mission to ease tensions among the parties at war, meeting with political and ecclesiastical leaders around the world. His mission was, in particular, to encourage exchanges of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners and to find a way to facilitate the return of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia.

Zelensky is city-hopping across Europe to promote a plan that he said “aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war” against Russia, unveiling the proposals to European allies after a summit with President Joe Biden was derailed by Hurricane Milton.

On Thursday, Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

He is expected to travel to Germany later on Friday to hold talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Ukrainian leader has yet to publicly detail his proposals for “victory.” But the timing of his efforts to lock in European support appear to have the looming U.S. election in mind. Former President Donald Trump has long been critical of U.S. aid to Kyiv.

Ukraine’s stretched and short-handed army is currently under heavy pressure in the country’s eastern Donetsk region. Russian forces recently pushed it out of the Donetsk town of Vuhledar and are now in control of about half of nearby Toretsk, local administration chief Vasyl Chynchyk said Friday. To stop the losses, Zelenskyy needs to secure more help.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaves at the end of a private meeting with Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaves at the end of a private meeting with Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaves at the end of a private meeting with Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaves at the end of a private meeting with Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, arrives for a private audience with Pope Francis at The Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Vatican Media via AP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, arrives for a private audience with Pope Francis at The Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Vatican Media via AP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, arrives for a private audience with Pope Francis at The Vatican, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Vatican Media via AP)