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Florida residents in the path of Hurricane Milton were instructed to hunker down as the massive storm hit the state.
The hurricane made landfall early Wednesday night near Sarasota County’s Siesta Key.
The then-Category 3 storm has brought destructive tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge across multiple areas
More than 2 million customers were without power across the Sunshine State, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.US.
While Milton’s intensity continues to fluctuate, weakening to a Category 2 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center predicts it will be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida”.
Federal and state officials have urged those in Milton’s path to evacuate to avoid “catastrophic” winds, up to 18in rainfall and up to 15ft of storm surge, before the major hurricane slams into Florida’s west-central coast.
Vice President Kamala Harris warned that even the toughest Floridians won’t weather the “historic” hurricane, she said on The Late Show on Tuesday night.
Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche told CNN on Wednesday that officers will stay on the streets until Milton’s winds top 45mph.
“If people need help, we’re not going to be able to come to them,” he said.
Hurricane Milton leaves 2 million people out of power
More than 2 million homes and businesses are without power in Florida tonight, according to poweroutage.us, as Hurricane Milton slammed into the gulf coast pouding the state with ferocious winds and devastating rainfall.
The entire gulf coast region near Tampa where the storm made landfall seems to be hardest hit by power cuts, according to the tracker.
The highest number of outages were in Hardee County, as well as neighbouring Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Milton bringing devastating rains, damaging winds inland
Crane falls in St. Pete
Roof at Tropicana Field is gone
Hurricane Milton weakens some more
Milton is moving toward the east-northeast near 16mph.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds are near 105mph, with higher gusts.
Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane intensity while crossing Florida overnight. But, after moving into the Atlantic, the hurricane is expected to gradually lose tropical characteristics and slowly weaken.
Destruction from surge, winds seen near Sarasota
Milton winds are packing a ‘wallop’
Sen. Rick Scott worried about Florida residents who didn’t evacuate: ‘We can’t take care of them now’
“People that didn’t evacuate that should’ve. We can’t take care of them now,” Scott told CNN.
“You have no choice. You have to stay in place now, and you have to hunker down, and you have to keep yourself alive. I worry about our first responders that want to go out and help these people and they have to put their lives on the line,” he said.
Storm surge rising in Punta Gorda
‘’Lieutenant Dan’ appears to be OK after Milton’s landfall
Source: independent.co.uk
