Hurricane Milton causes dangerous flooding in Florida as officials confirm deaths
by Lauren Irwin - 10/10/24 7:51 AM ET
Debris covers the ground near a crane that fell onto a building along 1st Avenue South in St. Petersburg, Fla., as Hurricane Milton’s strong winds tore through the area, leaving millions without power, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm late Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast, bringing powerful winds, a deadly storm surge and flooding to much of the state. Officials said Thursday morning that the danger had yet to pass.
Power outages were widespread early Thursday and deaths have been reported as Milton weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved across Florida.
While Tampa was spared a direct hit, Milton compounded the misery wrought by Helene.
Why Hurricane Milton became so intense so fast
Follow along for more updates:
1 of 1
08:32 AM
October 10, 2024
-
kballuck
Rescue operation underway at Hillsborough County assisted living facility, sheriff says to CNN
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told CNN Thursday morning rescue operations are underway at a local assisted living facility.
Teams are working with older residents and those with disabilities to get them to dry land and assist with medical attention, he said.
“These are people who did heed the warning … these are individuals in areas where we’ve never seen flooding, never seeing flooding,” he said.
“And to go from no flooding to three feet of water up over your knees, I can imagine how frightening it was for everybody.”
– Lauren Irwin
08:31 AM
October 10, 2024
-
kballuck
Water rescues underway in Orange County
Orange County’s emergency response team was out overnight responding to calls from residents.
Officials responded to a mobile home park “where the water was chest deep in some of the places.”
Mandatory evacuations were ordered for millions of Floridians ahead of the storm. Orange County authorities said despite their team’s efforts to retrieve people, “none of the residents wanted to leave their homes.”
Orange County Fire Rescue shared video of rescue efforts in the Edgewater and Winter Park areas. Teams are “working tirelessly” to respond to the emergencies, it said.
“Crews checking every house in the area” to assist residents affected by flooding, fire rescue said.
Volusia County officials warned residents to continue to stay off the roads as they responded to calls in the South Daytona area.
– Lauren Irwin
08:21 AM
October 10, 2024
-
kballuck
St. Lucie County officials say tornadoes ahead of Hurricane Milton killed 4 people
Officials in St. Lucie County say the tornadoes that touched down ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall Wednesday killed 4 people, The Associated Press reported.
Florida saw close to 100 tornado warnings across the state before the storm hit.
The Miami National Weather Service said 5 to 7 tornadoes have been confirmed. Several injuries were also reported and at least 125 homes were destroyed before landfall was confirmed.
– Lauren Irwin
08:18 AM
October 10, 2024
-
Video: Hurricane Milton sucks water out of Tampa Bay in rare reverse storm surge
Tampa Bay experienced a rare reverse storm surge as Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday evening, temporarily drawing water out of the bay and exposing parts of the bay floor that are typically submerged.
Video taken by NewsNation reporter Brian Entin showed the seawater heavily receding by Bayshore Boulevard.
Watch the video here.
07:56 AM
October 10, 2024
-
srai
Officials say danger has not passed
Officials in Florida say that the storm surge remained a concern in many parts of the state and tropical storm warnings were in place for much of the east-central coast.
Officials in the hard-hit counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges and flooding.
07:54 AM
October 10, 2024
-
srai
More than 3 million without power after Hurricane Milton slams Florida, causes deaths and flooding
Hurricane Milton, which made landfall Wednesday evening on Florida’s west coast, barreled through the state as a Category 3 storm, with high winds and rain that left millions without power.
According to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, nearly 3.3 million Floridians are without power as of Thursday morning.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported Milton moved quickly across central Florida overnight and produced “significant flooding and damaging winds” in its path. The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it made landfall in Siesta Key, Fla.
Debris covers the ground near a crane that fell onto a building along 1st Avenue South in St. Petersburg, Fla., as Hurricane Milton’s strong winds tore through the area, leaving millions without power, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Hurricane Milton, which made landfall Wednesday evening on Florida’s west coast, barreled through the state as a Category 3 storm, with high winds and rain that left millions without power.
According to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, nearly 3.3 million Floridians are without power as of Thursday morning.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported Milton moved quickly across central Florida overnight and produced “significant flooding and damaging winds” in its path. The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it made landfall in Siesta Key, Fla.
While the eye of the storm has passed, NHC warned there is a life-threatening storm surge expected from Florida’s east-central coast to southern Georgia. Damaging hurricane-force winds will continue in the area for several more hours and residents are urged to remain away from windows.
Heavy rainfall will also continue from central to northern Florida through Thursday morning and brings the risk of “considerable flash and urban flooding,” according to the center.
The St. Petersburg, Fla., area recorded over 16 inches of rain. A water main break led to the city shutting off water for household taps, The Associated Press reported.
The deadly storm was expected to be the worst to hit the Tampa area in more than a century. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for many counties but as people packed highways leaving town, gas stations began to run out of gas.
Milton was originally forecasted to be a Category 3 storm, but it picked up intensity quickly in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week, sparking concerns among experts that the area in its direct path would not survive.
It was upgraded to a Category 5 storm for some time as it made its way toward Florida but weakened as it approached the coast and was downgraded to a Category 1 as it passed through the state.
Milton is expected to be downgraded to an extratropical storm by Friday morning, NHC said.
After Milton hit land late Wednesdag, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told people to “hunker down” because it was safer than trying to leave too late.
Earlier in the day, south Florida saw close to 100 tornado warnings. The Miami National Weather Service said 5 to 7 tornadoes have been confirmed to appear from the storm. Several injuries were also reported and at least 125 homes were destroyed before landfall was confirmed.
The storm came just weeks after Hurricane Helene swept the southeastern part of the country. Recovery and repair efforts from the government are now being diverted to assess the damage from both storms.
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings