BREAKING NEWS: 😭Hurricane Milton makes landfall; ‘multiple de.aths’ reported in St. Lucie County
Hurricane Milton brings devastation across Florida; MLB stadium damaged: Updates
TAMPA, Fla. – Milton slammed into Florida’s already storm-blasted west coast Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane threatening huge swaths of Tampa Bay, Sarasota and regions still reeling from the destruction of Helene.
President Joe Biden referred to Hurricane Milton as “the storm of the century” and warned residents to heed evacuation orders. Tropical-storm-force winds, flooding rains, and tornadoes were spreading inland as the fierce hurricane made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County.
Numerous news outlets and Tampa residents also posted video of the roof of Tropicana Field being ripped to shreds by Milton’s winds. The domed stadium is home to Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays and has recently been used as a base camp to support the Florida Department of Emergency Management ahead of the hurricane.
Milton’s sustained winds have tapered off from 145 mph to 120 mph − bringing it down to a Category 3 hurricane − but the storm has grown in size, making its potential damage more widespread. Milton weakened to a Category 2 hurricane after coming ashore, threatening portions of central Florida with “devastating rains and damaging winds” according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 p.m. ET advisory.
Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane intensity as it crosses Florida overnight, the hurricane center said. By 2 a.m. ET Thursday, Milton’s winds weakened to 90 mph — making it a Category 1 storm — as it was 30 miles south of Orlando.
About 125 homes had already been destroyed by Hurricane Milton by Wednesday evening, according to Florida officials. More than 2.7 million people were in the dark by early Thursday, according to USA TODAY power outage data.
Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, said most of the lost residences were mobile homes in senior communities.
“We’re trying to get to Florida’s most vulnerable to make sure they’re taken care of,” he said. But Guthrie assured Florida residents, “We are with you.”
The latest hurricane strike comes on the heels of Helene, which left a trail of devastated communities across six states. Helene, which first hit Florida as a category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, killed over 200 people and is estimated to have caused between $10.5 and $17.5 billion of insured losses alone.
Milton brings fear of more widespread damage, with tropical storm-force winds extending out to 255 miles, according to the hurricane center. Millions of storm-weary Floridians had been ordered or urged to flee earlier in the day, particularly in the Tampa area, which was initially projected to be in the bulls-eye of the storm.
Tampa, with a metropolitan area that is home to over 3 million people, has not had a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than 100 years. Storm surge from Milton could drive water levels up to 12 feet above ground, the hurricane center said.
Milton is the third hurricane to make landfall in Florida this year. That puts 2024 in a tie with five previous years for the most Florida landfalls in a single season, said Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist at Colorado State University. The other years were 1871, 1886, 1964, 2004 and 2005.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking at a briefing earlier Wednesday, said the state is prepared. Hundreds of search and rescue personnel and 180 high-water vehicles have been embedded in likely storm impact sites, he said. Over 6,000 state National Guard members and 3,000 more from other states are at the ready, along with 50,000 linemen who will work on restoring power after the storm.
Developments:
∎ Flash flood emergencies remained in effect early Thursday for parts of west-central Florida, according to the hurricane center. The National Weather Service reported that shortly after 1:30 a.m. ET, between 5 and 9 inches of rain had already fallen, and additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches were possible in the warned area.
∎ In St. Petersburg, Florida, authorities are responding to a water main break that will “impact potable water services across the entire city,” officials said in a statement. The city shut off all potable water service at midnight and officials warned that the temporary shutdown is expected to last “until the necessary repairs can be completed.”
∎ High winds and extreme rainfall rates were expected along and to the north of Interstate 4, the weather service said. A gauge in St. Petersburg, Florida, recorded 5.09 inches of rain in an hour on Wednesday night. In total over 22 hours, a gauge at St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted Airport reported 18.31 inches of rain. Along the Northeast Florida coast, a peak storm surge of 3 to 5 feet is forecast.
∎ Tornadic supercells − dangerous, rotating thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes − were beginning to sweep across the Florida peninsula, hurricane officials said. The weather service office in Melbourne received reports Wednesday from Okeechobee, Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin counties “that suggest multiple tornadoes touched down,” said William Ulrich, warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service office in Melbourne.
