Hurricane Milton pounded central Florida early Thursday as forecasters warned of “devastating rains and damaging winds” throughout the day before the storm exits into the Atlantic Ocean.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it expected rainfall totals of 20-35 centimeters across central and northern Florida by the end of Thursday, with some areas receiving up to 45 centimeters.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of about 150 kilometers per hour as it moved inland early Thursday, several hours after making landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour.
The hurricane brought storm surge – inundation of water from the coast to inland areas — to the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
Power was knocked out to more than 2 million residents and businesses, and utility companies warned that outages could last for an extended period of time.
The National Weather Service in Miami posted photographs of tornadoes on the social media platform X and said that Florida was experiencing “a very favorable environment for quick-moving and dangerous tornadoes.”
The agency issued more than 50 tornado warnings by Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency management officials said at least 125 homes were destroyed, many of them mobile homes.
“First responders are staged and ready to go, as soon as weather conditions allow,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said late Wednesday. “Search and rescue efforts will be well underway to save lives before dawn, and they will continue for as long as it takes.”
Roads were busy Monday and Tuesday as people followed mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders to escape the hurricane’s path, while those choosing to stay made final preparations to endure the storm.
Milton’s arrival in Florida comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the state.
Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
