Hurricane Milton: made landfall on Florida’s west coast Wednesday night, bringing life-threatening storm surges and catastrophic winds. The storm, classified as extremely dangerous, left over 2 million people without power and caused severe flooding in several areas.
The hurricane hit Siesta Key in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m. as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching 120 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. This was a significant reduction from the 180 mph winds Milton had while it was a Category 5 storm over the gulf.
Siesta Key, a small barrier island off Sarasota known for its world-class beaches, is home to around 5,500 residents, many of whom are retirees.
Residents watch from their building as surge waters flood the streets following Hurricane Milton’s landfall in the Sarasota area.
Meanwhile, rain driven by strong winds drenches a street in downtown Tampa, Florida, as Hurricane Milton moves through the region.
Water levels surged by more than 8 feet in Sarasota, according to the National Weather Service, while storm surges up to 5 feet were recorded from Naples to Charlotte Harbor. Additional flooding was expected in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
By early Thursday, the storm had weakened to a Category 1, though its impact was still being felt as it continued to move across Florida.
‘Sarasota will experience strong wind gusts over 100 mph for several more hours as Milton slowly passes through, along with storm surges that could reach up to 12 feet,’ said Jordan Overton, senior meteorologist with Fox Weather. ‘Power outages are expected, and conditions should begin to improve by early tomorrow morning as the storm moves out of the area.’
By early Thursday, more than 2.2 million people were without power, according to PowerOutages.us, with numerous outages reported along the western coast of the peninsula and in central Florida, where deadly tornadoes had torn through the area earlier.
The powerful tornadoes had also brought down power lines during the day.
At least nine tornadoes were confirmed as storm systems capable of producing dangerous twisters moved through Florida, especially the southern peninsula, ahead of Milton’s landfall, the National Weather Service in Miami shared on X.
On Florida’s opposite coast near Sarasota, tornadoes claimed several lives in a retirement community in Fort Pierce, according to local officials speaking to CBS12.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told the news station that between six and twelve tornadoes hit the area in a span of just 20 minutes. Later, during an appearance on Fox Weather, he confirmed a total of 17 tornadoes struck the county.
Search and rescue teams were actively pulling people from the wreckage at Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, where multiple fatalities were reported. However, the exact number of deaths was not provided by the sheriff Wednesday night.
The National Weather Service warned that additional tornadoes could strike the state into early Thursday.
On the Gulf Coast, Fox Weather officials stated that the center of the storm passed directly over Sarasota, rather than 15 miles north, which caused slight shifts in where the most severe storm surge occurred.
Ref; nypost.com