Weary Floridians will face a growing death toll, flooding, homelessness, gas shortages and power outages Thursday morning as Hurricane Milton's overnight path of destruction becomes clear in harsh sunlight. Dew.
The massive weather event hit Florida as a Category 3 storm, bringing misery to millions of people still affected by Hurricane Helen, with winds of more than 100 mph tearing through cities along with a barrage of tornadoes. However, it avoided a direct hit on Tampa.
Approximately 90 minutes after landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm.
By early Thursday, the hurricane had moved offshore about 55 miles east of Orlando, becoming a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph.
The infographic shows that Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 10, 2024. (Yasin Demirci/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The storm caused power outages across much of Florida, leaving more than 3 million homes and businesses without power as of early Thursday morning, according to the Florida Press. power outage.ustrack utility reports.
This is not the end of energy issues.
“Nearly a quarter of Florida's gas stations are out of gas,” said Patrick de Haan, the institute's petroleum analyst director. Gasoline analysis site GasBuddy. “In Tampa…63 percent of the gas stations right now don't have gas,” he told NewsNation's CUOMO.
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, said about 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane made landfall, many of them mobile homes in senior living communities. reported By Associated Press.
Hurricane Milton hits Hillsboro, causing mass evacuations and congesting highways
Heavy rains could also cause inland flooding along rivers and lakes as Milton moves across the Florida peninsula as a hurricane and eventually emerges in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday.
The impact is expected to be felt in the densely populated Orlando area.
Before Milton made landfall, tornadoes had touched down across the state. Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce on Florida's Atlantic coast was particularly hard hit, with homes destroyed and some residents killed.
I can't stop! Tornado spotted in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall
Coby Krager/TMX
“We lost some lives,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, but declined to say how many people were killed.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters at a press conference Wednesday night before landfall that there were 116 tornado warnings, of which 19 were confirmed to have touched down.
He said “a large amount” of search and rescue equipment and personnel were on standby and “we hope it won't be a major need.”
He said about 9,000 National Guard troops are being deployed from Florida and other states.
