Hurricane Milton brought powerful winds, a dangerous storm surge and flooding to much of Florida after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm.
It weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved through Florida early Thursday. Power outages were widespread and deaths have been reported from severe weather.
The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph) when it roared ashore in Siesta Key, south of the populated Tampa Bay region, the National Hurricane Center said. High winds, heavy rain and flooding hit areas including densely populated Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
Follow AP’s coverage of tropical weather at https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes.
Here’s the latest:
Five storm-related deaths confirmed in Florida
After confirming 5 storm-related deaths, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he does not have any reports of others at this point, though that may change, he said at a noon briefing Thursday.
“We don’t have confirmed reports of other fatalities throughout the rest of the state, but we may as the day goes on,” he said.
“My sense is we will be able to release a lot of the search and rescue resources that we’ve had on hand very soon,” DeSantis said, without providing a specific timeline.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said the deaths were caused by tornadoes that touched down near Fort Pierce.
Jessie Schaper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida, said it’s too early to know exactly how many tornadoes touched down Wednesday or how strong they were.
Officials plan to begin their survey on Friday, but it might take some time before results are released.
Residents rescued from assisted living facility in Tampa
More than 100 residents were rescued from an assisted living facility in Tampa, according to a social media post Thursday morning from Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue were out with amphibious equipment and the marine unit rescuing residents, Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the video.
It shows deputies in nearly waist-deep water outside the facility and residents with walkers being carried away on boats. The video shows flooded streets and parking lots and rescue workers with a boat floating next to a partially submerged flight of stairs helping an apartment building resident in a life jacket wrap up her cat.
Chronister can be seen offering to take a person in a home surrounded by flood waters to dry ground.
“This is extraordinary to see this type of flooding, especially in this type of area. The University of South Florida area is normally a dry area,” Chronister said in the video. “To see this unprecedented flooding, I can only imagine how scary it was.”
Tiny barrier island off Fort Myers gets hit by tornado and the effects of hurricane
The tiny barrier island of Matlacha just off Fort Myers got hit by both a tornado and surge from Hurricane Milton, with many of the turquoise, salmon and lavender buildings sustaining serious damage.
Several collapsed or are knocked off their pilings. Utility poles are snapped and there was no power Thursday morning. The fishing and tourism village also got severely hit by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and Ian two years ago.
Ninety-year-old Tom Reynolds spent Thursday morning sweeping out the four feet of mud and water the surge deposited in his two-story home and collecting the large chunks of his home’s aluminum siding that had been ripped off by the tornado. Fortunately for Reynolds and others working outside Thursday, the temperatures were in the low 80s (mid-20s Celsius) and Milton had sucked away all the humidity.
The tornado, he said, had “picked up a car and thrown it across the road.” A house had been blown into another street, temporarily blocking it. Some structures caught fire.
Reynolds, who founded the glass and mirror company his son now runs, said he lost many of his power tools – he had stored them high in his shed, but the surge knocked it over.
He said plans to clean up his house, which he built three decade ago, get it fixed and stay.
“What else am I going to do?” Reynolds said.
Residents call on Altamonte Springs to do something to stop repeated flooding
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — In the Spring Oaks neighborhood of Altamonte Springs north of Orlando, an impromptu lake formed from floodwaters on a residential street near Rupert and Ernine Gonzales’ split-level home.
They have lived in their house for 22 years, but never saw flooding until two years ago with Hurricane Ian.
Now, it’s becoming more regular. “The city must do something about this flooding, 100%,” Rupert Gonzales said.
“People here have gotten flooded, relocated, come back and gotten flooded again. It’s a way of life, it seems.” Soon or later, people won’t want to buy homes in his neighborhood, Gonzales said. “I’m very concerned because I have to live here and I have to see this flooding every time.”
The post Hurricane Milton is weaker but still dangerous appeared first on KYMA.
