Hurricane Milton tore through central Florida on Thursday, following its landfall on the state’s west coast, unleashing deadly tornadoes, destroying homes, and leaving nearly 2 million residents without power.
The storm made landfall near Siesta Key around 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT) on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
By 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), wind speeds had decreased to 105 mph (165 kph), downgrading Milton to a Category 2 hurricane, though it remained highly dangerous. The storm’s eye was situated 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida.
A flash flood emergency was declared for the Tampa Bay region, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. St. Petersburg alone recorded 16.6 inches (422 mm) of rain on Wednesday, the hurricane center reported.
The eye of the storm struck Siesta Key, a small barrier island town with about 5,400 residents, situated roughly 60 miles south of Tampa Bay, a metropolitan area home to over 3 million people.
Governor Ron DeSantis expressed hope that Tampa Bay, once seen as the storm’s main target, might avoid the worst damage, partly due to the timing of the storm’s landfall before high tide. However, forecasters still warned of potential storm surges reaching up to 13 feet.
DeSantis urged residents, “At this point, it’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down.”
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