Power outages continued for millions of residents in the US state of Florida, today, Friday, more than a day after Hurricane Milton swept through the central part of the state, causing the deaths of at least 16 people.

Utility workers repaired downed power lines and damaged cell phone towers, while government agencies and residents worked to remove fallen trees and clean up neighborhoods flooded by torrential rains in cities and towns.

Although Hurricane Milton did not cause sea waters to rise to catastrophic levels in the southeastern state of Florida, the cleanup process could take weeks or months

Marcus Alvarez, an analyst at Morningstar DBRS, said on Friday that Milton, the fifth strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean, could cost insurance companies between 30 and 60 billion dollars.

But this amount is far less than the $100 billion that the company estimated earlier this week, before the hurricane arrived on Wednesday evening.

The White House pledged to provide government support while assessing the total extent of the damage is still under study.

Republican candidate in the US presidential elections, Donald Trump, criticized his Democratic rival, Kamla Harris, and President Joe Biden for the way they dealt with the rescue efforts.

He said yesterday, Thursday, “The federal government did not do what it was supposed to do, especially with regard to the state of North Carolina.”

Harris, who says Trump is spreading lies about the government's response, criticized attempts to politicize the issue during an event broadcast on the Univision network on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, we have seen over the past two weeks since Hurricane Helen and now in the wake of Hurricane Milton how people play political games,” she said, without explicitly mentioning Trump’s name.

The Biden administration said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would need additional funding from Congress, and urged lawmakers, who are currently on recess, to act.