Hurricane Milton roared into Florida as a Category 3 storm Wednesday, wreaking havoc on a coast still devastated by Helene, hitting cities with gusts of over 100 mph (160 kph) after creating a series of tornadoes but avoiding a direct impact on Tampa. The storm moved south in the closing hours and landed on Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. The situation in Tampa remained a severe emergency, with St. Petersburg receiving almost 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain, forcing the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood warning. Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, appears severely damaged.
More than 2 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power, according to poweroutage.us, a utility data tracking website. Tornadoes were striking down around the state before Milton made landfall. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, was particularly heavily struck.
Officials Statement:
“We have lost some life,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, declining to reveal how many people were killed.
According to Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, approximately 125 homes were damaged before the hurricane landed, many of which were mobile homes in senior communities. Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane around 90 minutes after impact. By late Wednesday, the hurricane’s maximum sustained winds were around 105 mph (165 kph), and storm surge warnings were in effect along Florida’s Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
Heavy rains were also expected to flood inland along rivers and lakes as Milton moved through the Florida Peninsula as a hurricane, eventually emerging in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. It is predicted to influence Orlando, which is heavily populated.
The hurricane hit an area still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which flooded streets and homes in western Florida and killed at least 230 people across the South two weeks ago. Many localities along the shore rushed to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge threw it about and exacerbated the damage.
Officials had issued stern warnings to escape or face slim chances of life. “This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, the emergency management director for Pinellas County, located on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. “Those of you punched with Hurricane Helene, this will be a knockout. You must go, and you must do it immediately.
By late afternoon, some officials indicated the time for such attempts had passed, and those who remained behind should dig down instead. By the evening, some counties had announced the suspension of emergency services. Jackie Curnick admitted she struggled with her decision to stay at home in Sarasota, just north of where the storm made landfall. But, with a two-year-old son and a newborn girl expected on October 29, Curnick and her husband decided it was best.
Curnick stated that they began preparing to escape on Monday but could not find any available hotel rooms, and those they did find were prohibitively expensive. She said there were too many unanswered concerns if they got in the car and drove away: where to sleep, if they’d be able to fill up their petrol tank, and if they’d be able to find a safe way out of the state. “It’s so difficult to evacuate in a peninsula,” she told me. “Most other states allow you to exit in any direction. In Florida, only so many highways lead north or south.”
According to GasBuddy, more than 60% of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg ran out of gas Wednesday afternoon. DeSantis said the state’s overall supply was adequate, and highway patrol officers were accompanying tanker trucks to refill it. Christian Burke and his mother remained in their three-story concrete home overlooking Gulfport, Tampa Bay, Florida. Burke stated that his father planned this home with a Category 5 in mind, and they will now test it.
