Hurricane Milton hit Florida as a Category-3 storm on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, bringing strong winds over 100 mph (160 kph), heavy rain, and a number of tornadoes throughout the state. Tampa was spared from a direct hit.
The hurricane made landfall at 8:30 p.m. near Siesta Key, a beach town with about 5,500 residents located 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. At the time, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center.
Over 1.5 million homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night, with the highest outages reported in Hardee, Sarasota, and Manatee counties, according to poweroutage.us.
Before the storm reached the coast, tornadoes were already touching down across the state. One tornado struck the Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, causing severe damage, destroying homes, and killing some residents.
“We have lost some life,” said St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson, although he did not confirm the number of fatalities, according to WPBF News.
Tampa Bay suffers
The Tampa Bay area hasn’t had a direct hit from a major hurricane in over 100 years, but Hurricane Milton still brought a dangerous storm surge to Florida’s Gulf Coast, affecting heavily populated areas like Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Fort Myers.
The National Weather Service reported flash flooding in the Tampa Bay area, including St. Petersburg, where more than 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain had fallen. The storm’s heavy rains were also expected to cause flooding further inland along rivers and lakes as Milton moved across Florida, eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.
Before the hurricane even made landfall, about 125 homes were destroyed—many of them mobile homes in senior communities, according to Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Around 90 minutes after landfall, Milton was about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Sarasota and had weakened slightly to a Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph), moving east-northeast at 16 mph (26 kph).
Milton struck a region still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which recently caused severe storm surge damage and killed 12 people in coastal Pinellas County.
Evacuation warnings
Earlier, officials warned residents to evacuate or risk their lives. “This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director of Pinellas County, which is on the Tampa Bay peninsula. “If you were hit hard by Hurricane Helene, this one will be even worse. You need to leave now.”
By late afternoon, officials said it was too late to evacuate and advised those who stayed to take shelter. By evening, some counties had suspended emergency services.
Hurricane Milton was expected to remain strong as it moved across the state, impacting areas like Orlando through Thursday.
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