Millions of Florida residents from coast to coast are assessing the overnight devastation left by Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Siesta Key near Sarasota on Wednesday around 8:30 p.m. as a Category 3 storm. beaten by the state and left the east coast at Cape Canaveral before dawn Thursday.
At least 2.6 million homes and businesses were without powerResidents of St. Petersburg were left without water, and extensive damage was caused in the Tampa area, where flash flood warnings were still in effect Thursday.
Residents of St. Petersburg were also unable to get water from their household taps as a water main break forced the city to shut off the water supply. St. Petersburg recorded more than 18 inches of rain.
As of 5 a.m. Thursday, Milton was still a Category 1 hurricane, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to east-central Florida. It was located 15 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral with winds of 80 miles per hour and moving northeast at 20 miles per hour.
About 5,500 people live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall. The popular tourist destination has been considered one of the best beaches in usa., known for its exceptionally white sand. An MTV reality show called “Siesta Key” was filmed there.
On its way to landfall, Hurricane Milton emerged tornado outbreaks statewide. Multiple people were reported dead in a St. Lucie County housing project; St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPEC-CBS12 that his deputies and state emergency services will go door to door at the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village to conduct search and rescue operations.
“This is like nothing else we’ve ever seen,” Pearson said, adding that between six and 12 tornadoes ripped through the area within a 20-minute span.
Milton’s path reached zero late Wednesday on the south side of Tampa Bay. Late Wednesday evening, a gust of 100 mph was recorded at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, a gust of 105 mph at Egmont Channel and a gust of 100 mph at Middle Tampa Bay, the National Hurricane Center said.
Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, appeared to be heavily damaged. The fabric that serves as the roof of the domed stadium was torn to shreds by the heavy winds. It was not immediately clear if there was any damage inside. Several cranes also toppled during the storm, according to the weather service.
A crane collapsed in downtown St. Petersburg during strong winds from Milton, leaving a gaping hole in an office building that housed several businesses, including the Tampa Bay Times.
The full extent of the damage won’t be known for quite some time, especially on the barrier islands, but early images showed seawater rushing into bays and harbors from Charlotte to Fort Myers.
The Pinellas County Sheriff issued a “county lockdown” Thursday morning. “Effective immediately, all points of entry into Pinellas County are closed until further notice due to hazardous conditions,” the sheriff said. wrote on X.
In Sarasota County, “first-in” responders reported downed power lines and trees on roadways, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post early Thursday.
Florida has mobilized helicopters, boats and high-wheel vehicles to reach the hardest-hit areas, with emergency supplies of water and military rations already distributed to the counties likely to suffer the worst impact.
Heavy rain, high winds and a series of tornadoes hit Florida from the leading edge of the storm, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said 19 tornadoes have been confirmed and 116 tornado warnings have been issued across the state. He did not provide numbers but said “numerous counties” reported damage and specifically noted damage in Palm Beach County and Port St. Lucie.
“Regardless of the storm’s direct winds, we’ve probably already seen more tornado watches than I’ve ever seen… No one ever remembers seeing that many tornado warnings,” DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday. The National Weather Service in Miami has issued 55 warnings in the region alone.
About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane made landfall, many of them mobile homes in senior living communities, said Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.
The storm increased dramatically in size on Wednesday afternoon. Milton’s tropical winds will extend as far as 250 miles from the center starting Wednesday at 11 p.m. Tropical force winds have speeds of 39-120 km/h.
Catastrophic storm surges of between 8 and 15 feet were expected from Anna Maria Island in Manatee County south to Bonita Beach in Lee County. Areas to the north, including Tampa Bay, could see storm surges of 6 to 7 feet high.
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DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday evening that Milton’s landfall came earlier than expected, before the high tide.
‘That’s good for the flood, because the flood hasn’t arrived yet. I think it will help with the surge, but it means that almost all rescues will be in the dark, in the middle of the night,” DeSantis said.
To prepare for what is sure to be a prolonged, difficult and dangerous aftermath, Florida has gathered about 50,000 electrical repair workers from across the United States and brought in another 500 law enforcement officers, DeSantis said.
Search and rescue teams are ready for deployment. The state has collected dozens of aircraft, including helicopters and planes, as well as hundreds of high-wheel vehicles. Emergency food and water packages have been prepared.
Hurricane Milton causes ‘tornadic supercell’ in South Florida as impacts roll into the region
Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders in 11 Florida counties ahead of landfall, with a combined population of about 5.9 million people, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
By Monday, Milton had intensified at an astonishing rate, with barometric pressure dropping below 900 millibars, making it one of the five most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record.
A hurricane hunter plane reported early Tuesday evening that pressure in Milton’s eye had dropped again, indicating another explosive intensification. This was said by meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University in a message on X that the only other hurricane recorded in the Atlantic Ocean this late in the year with lower pressure this late in the year was 2005’s Hurricane Wilma.
Hurricane Milton: What’s open, closed, canceled and postponed in South Florida | UPDATED
On Anna Marie Island on the southern edge of Tampa Bay, Evan Purcell packed his father’s ashes and tried to catch his 9-year-old cat, McKenzie, as he prepared to leave Tuesday. Helene left him with thousands of dollars in damages when his house flooded. He was afraid Milton would take over the rest.
“I’m still in shock from the first one and now comes round two,” Purcell said. “This just makes me sick to my stomach.”
Milton presented a worst-case scenario that hurricane experts have worried about for years.
A Report 2015 from Boston-based catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark and Co. concluded that Tampa Bay is the most vulnerable place in the U.S. to storm surge from a hurricane and could sustain $175 billion in damage.
The city is particularly vulnerable due to the underwater topography of the Gulf of Mexico. The gentle slope of the Gulf allows storms to push water over long distances and far inland.
Information from the Associated Press was used for this report.
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