Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday night, near Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm, bringing ashore 120 mile-per-hour winds, heavy rain, and as much as a 10-foot storm surge into regions of the state still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago. By Thursday morning, Milton had crossed Florida and was headed out to sea, its hurricane force winds intact.
“First responders have been working throughout the night,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference on Thursday morning. “The storm was significant but, thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario.”
While the state broadly avoided catastrophe, Milton still hit Floridians hard. In some coastal communities, floodwaters rose nearly up to second-floor levels, spurring dangerous middle-of-the-night rescues. Powerful winds ripped roofs off buildings — including Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg — and left more than 3 million homes and businesses without power. Farther inland, as much as 18 inches of rain fell in just a few hours, representing a 1 in 1000 ... Read more
