Hurricane Milton moved across central Florida on Thursday, the 10th of October, after arriving on the state’s west coast a few hours earlier spawning deadly tornadoes, destroying homes and knocking out power to nearly two million customers, reports Reuters.
The storm arrived near Siesta Key at around 8.30 pm local time on Wednesday as a Category Three hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 195km/h, the US National Hurricane Center said.
By 11 p.m. local time, wind speeds had dropped to 165km/h and Milton became a Category Two hurricane, which is still considered extremely dangerous. The Hurricane Centre declared a flash flood emergency for the Tampa Bay area, including the cities of Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater, and St Petersburg had already received 422mm of rain on Wednesday.
HURRICANE MILTON: Heavy downpours have caused much of the roads in Fort Myers, Florida to disappear.
Follow live: https://t.co/2h7jlntLL9 pic.twitter.com/AMThaIeT5m
— WFAA (@wfaa) October 10, 2024
Huge crane fell into a building. St. Petersburg, FL. pic.twitter.com/YEzlSQcgTT
— Mike’s Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) October 10, 2024
The hurricane made landfall in Siesta Key, a barrier island town of about 5 400 people off Sarasota, about 100km south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than three million people.
At least two deaths were reported in a retirement home in Fort Pierce, on the east coast of Florida.
At least two people were victims of Hurricane #Milton in Florida
The hurricane made its way to the central part of Florida’s west coast in the Siesta Key Island area near the city of Sarasota. 125 homes were reportedly destroyed and more than two and a half thousand other… pic.twitter.com/9AIbwaDMV4
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 10, 2024
Governor Ron DeSantis expressed hope that Tampa Bay would avoid serious damage and severe flooding as the storm arrived before high tide. Forecasts indicate that water levels could still rise by up to four metres.
DeSantis reported that Milton also spawned at least 19 tornadoes that damaged many areas and destroyed around 125 homes, mostly mobile homes.
“It is too dangerous to evacuate safely at this time, so everyone needs to stay put and take shelter,” DeSantis said in announcing the storm’s landfall.
TORNADO IN WELLINGTON:Video a friend sent to me of a confirmed tornado moving through Wellington on Southern Blvd ahead of #HurricaneMilton.
SEEK SHELTER NOW!!! pic.twitter.com/17rAfjN6BE
— Kate Hussey (@katehussey8) October 9, 2024
DeSantis said search and rescue teams are ready to go to work as soon as the storm passes and to work into the night if necessary.
More than 1.8 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane intensity while crossing Florida later on Thursday morning but after moving into the Atlantic it is likely to gradually lose tropical characteristics and slowly weaken, the Hurricane Center added.
Nevertheless, the threat of flooding on the state’s Atlantic coast remains. Although two million people have been ordered to evacuate, millions more are at risk as they live in the predicted path of the storm.
By Wednesday afternoon, nearly a quarter of Florida’s gas stations were without fuel.
Two weeks ago, much of the southern US experienced the deadly force of Hurricane Helene when it devastated Florida and several other states. Both storms are expected to cause billions of dollars in damage.