The Atlantic hurricane season got off to a slow start this year, but there have now been 13 named storms – and there could be even more to come.

Back in May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that this year’s season – running from 1 June to 30 November – had an 85% chance of being more active than usual.

An average year will see a total of 14 named storms, of which seven will be regular hurricanes and three will be major ones.

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After a slow start – the slowest in 10 years – things have picked up recently. Of the 13 named storms, nine became hurricanes, with four reaching major hurricane status (rated category 3 and above on the Saffir-Simpson scale).

Two have reached category 5, the highest possible; Beryl – the most powerful storm to ever make landfall so early in the season in early June – and Milton, which hit Florida this week.

August was unusually quiet, likely due to thunderstorm activity over Africa being further north than usual, but things picked up through September and early October.

We are past the peak of the season but there are more than six weeks left – so there is still time for more hurricanes to form.

And people in Florida know all too well the chance of hurricanes arriving later in the year.

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma hit towards the end of October, causing 30 deaths and around $19bn (£14.5bn) worth of damage.

With sea surface temperatures still above average, there’s a real chance of more hurricanes this season.

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But that doesn’t mean any that do form will have an impact on land or Florida itself, in fact, Hurricane Leslie is currently in the central Atlantic not affecting any land masses.

And although major hurricanes can occur in November, they are rare. All we can do is wait and see.

I’ve spent the day driving north along Florida’s west coast from Fort Myers.

The coastline from Fort Myers to Tampa and a little beyond was all part of an evacuation zone as the authorities warned of a once-in-a-generation storm and the meteorologists tried to determine where it would hit.

Milton was, meteorologists said, behaving very unusually. That worried them. It also wobbled north and south as it approached the coastline overnight, compounding the concern.

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The only encouraging news overnight was that it reduced in intensity from a category 5 down to a category 3. That lessened the impact from wind but not the concerns over a storm surge of water engulfing low-lying areas.

We stopped first at Punta Gorda where boats were overturned in the marina but there was no major structural damage. They dodged the bullet here.

Further north, the coastal highway passes Venice. There we found the streets littered with foliage from the palm trees, tiles ripped from roofs and billboards down but again, no major damage.

Casey Key lies just north of Venice, reachable via bridges from the mainland. When we arrived it was closed to traffic.

On foot we joined the National Guard and the local sheriff as they went house-to-house checking for anyone who may have tried to sit it out.

The storm surge here entered the houses but locals we spoke to guessed that it was only a foot or two high. Much lower than they had feared, about the same as the surge from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and a huge relief for them.

Checking the major bridges for structural damage is important but the authorities had opened the Sunshine Skyway Bridge leading north to St Petersburg by the time I arrived.

The focus in St Petersburg itself is the Tropicana Field stadium. Home to Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, it was being used to house emergency workers but the soft roof was ripped off in the storm.

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All in all, the west coast of Florida has been very lucky. This is in part because so many followed the advice and evacuated.

Of course, the danger is that people may feel the warnings were overblown. The mayor of Tampa warned people that they would die if they stayed. Over the top? People did stay and they didn’t die. We spoke to people who said it was all exaggerated – politicians and media to blame as usual.

I do wonder if the massive pre-storm warnings this time are in part an over-correction by the Biden administration following the remarkable disinformation campaign from Donald Trump and his cohort.

He has spent the past few weeks since Hurricane Helene claiming that the federal authority has been hindering rescue and recovery efforts, contrary to fact.

And his surrogate, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, wrote on social media: “Yes they can control the weather,” adding “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” It is not clear quite who “they” is.

The FEMA Administrator said the conspiracies were “absolutely the worst I have ever seen”.

Hurricane Milton could have been huge, yes, and given this barrage of conspiracy theories, especially about the authorities failing during Helene, they absolutely had to be prepared (over-prepared?) for this.

The hurricane was not the storm people feared. But the storm of American politics is just getting going. Less than a month until the election.

One person has been killed and 12 are trapped about 300m (1,000ft) underground at a former Colorado gold mine that’s now a tourist attraction.

It happened around noon on Thursday when a lift failed at Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine attraction in Cripple Creek.

Rescuers are trying to repair the elevator to bring the trapped people back to the surface.

With one group already below ground, the lift had a mechanical fault with another group inside as it was about halfway down the mineshaft, said Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell.

The incident killed one person – although it’s not been revealed how they died – and four others suffered minor injuries.

That group was able to return to the surface but the lift is out of commission until the problem is identified and fixed.

Radio communication with the trapped group – 11 tourists and their guide – is working and they have water, blankets and chairs, said the sheriff.

He said they hadn’t been told someone had died, only that there’s a problem with the lift.

Firefighters are on standby for a rescue operation if the fault can’t be fixed.

“If we have to, we can bring people up on those ropes, but it also subjects those first responders now to the threat
and endangerment of doing so,” said Mr Mikesell.

The former mine is about 110 miles (180km) south of Denver and has been operating tours for 50 years.

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