Live Updates: Hurricane Milton Strikes Florida
Posted on 10/10/2024
Hurricane Milton is far from done with Florida despite a long night of extreme winds and storm surge that left widespread damage.
Before Milton made landfall Wednesday night, it spawned more than a dozen tornadoes, at least one of which was blamed for the storm's first deaths.
Below are the latest updates from Florida. To read yesterday's complete coverage, go here.
Officials confirmed that four people were killed in St. Lucie County Wednesday when Milton spun up large tornadoes prior to landfall.
About 125 homes were destroyed before Milton even came ashore, Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida Division of Emergency Management said. Many of the destroyed homes were mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, according to the Associated Press.
Milton’s center is moving away from the east coast of Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported. It has downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.
All hurricane and tropical storm warnings are discontinued on the state’s west coast but remain in effect for much of Florida’s east-central coast. Storm surge warnings remain in effect for areas of the state’s east coast up to Altamaha Sound, Georgia.
The storm will continue to move away from the peninsula and head north of the Bahamas.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announces that Pinellas County is shutting off all access points to the county as rescue crews address hazardous conditions. The barrier islands are closed as well.
Photos show a boat jutting out into traffic after Milton tossed it onto a road in Port Charlotte. Street flooding is reported in the area from multiple feet of storm surge and heavy rain.
Pinellas County is sending out an emergency alert to residents, urging people still in the county to shelter in place. This helps ensure emergency response crews can respond to calls for help and clear the storm damage.
“SEVERE DAMAGES COUNTYWIDE,” the alert reads. “Many roads impassable due to downed power lines, fallen trees, debris… YOU MUST STAY OFF THE ROADS until advised otherwise by county officials…STAY PUT NOW.”
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is responding to calls for help in at least one neighborhood.
“Our cut teams are out cutting trees, trying to open up some of the roadways,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said on the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. “There are downed power lines and trees everywhere. Please stay indoors. We’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out.”
Though northeast Florida is seeing flooding now, the worst is yet to come. Storm surge peak is this afternoon and evening along this part of Florida’s coast, Intracoastal Waterway and St. Johns River. The St. Johns Basin will see at least two weeks of moderate to major flooding after the peak later today.
(MORE: Storm Surge: Separating Myth From Fact Could Save Your Life)
Milton brought Tampa a total of 11.43 inches of rainfall Wednesday, breaking the city’s monthly rainfall record in just one day. The city’s previous wettest October was in 1922, a month that received 10.33 inches of rain.
Storm surge and high tide along with heavy rainfall are combining, flooding the St. Johns River, causing moderate to major inundation in parts of St. Johns Putnam and Flagler counties.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office warned people not to drive through floodwaters and shared photos of some of the scenes around the county.
A crane came crashing down late last night in downtown St. Petersburg, striking a building that houses the offices of the Tampa Bay Times. Here's what's known as this hour, via the Tampa Bay Times:
- The crane was being used for the construction of a new residential high-rise being built across from the newspaper's offices.
- Nobody was hurt, and no one was inside either building affected by the crane collapse.
- The crane fell onto 1st Avenue South and completely blocked the street.
- This crane, and two others at the construction site, were reportedly rated to withstand 110-mph winds.
Tropicana Field, home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, suffered major damage when several panels of the roof were ripped off by Milton's powerful winds last night. The building was being used to house essential personnel tasked with storm response, and the playing field was lined with hundreds of cots.
"No first responders were being staged at Tropicana Field and the essential personnel that were there are all accounted for and safe," a Tampa Bay Rays spokesperson told ABC News. "Teams will be assessing the situation more when it is safe to do so."
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 3 million homes and businesses are in the dark in Florida. That accounts for roughly one out of every four customers statewide.
Unsurprisingly, the counties with the largest percentage of customers in the dark are closest to where Milton made landfall. Nearly everyone has lost power in Manatee and Sarasota counties, and Hillsborough County, where Tampa is the county seat, has half a million powerless homes and businesses.
Before Milton made landfall Wednesday night, it spawned more than a dozen tornadoes, at least one of which was blamed for the storm's first deaths.
Below are the latest updates from Florida. To read yesterday's complete coverage, go here.
Officials confirmed that four people were killed in St. Lucie County Wednesday when Milton spun up large tornadoes prior to landfall.
About 125 homes were destroyed before Milton even came ashore, Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida Division of Emergency Management said. Many of the destroyed homes were mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, according to the Associated Press.
Milton’s center is moving away from the east coast of Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported. It has downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane.
All hurricane and tropical storm warnings are discontinued on the state’s west coast but remain in effect for much of Florida’s east-central coast. Storm surge warnings remain in effect for areas of the state’s east coast up to Altamaha Sound, Georgia.
The storm will continue to move away from the peninsula and head north of the Bahamas.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announces that Pinellas County is shutting off all access points to the county as rescue crews address hazardous conditions. The barrier islands are closed as well.
Photos show a boat jutting out into traffic after Milton tossed it onto a road in Port Charlotte. Street flooding is reported in the area from multiple feet of storm surge and heavy rain.
Pinellas County is sending out an emergency alert to residents, urging people still in the county to shelter in place. This helps ensure emergency response crews can respond to calls for help and clear the storm damage.
“SEVERE DAMAGES COUNTYWIDE,” the alert reads. “Many roads impassable due to downed power lines, fallen trees, debris… YOU MUST STAY OFF THE ROADS until advised otherwise by county officials…STAY PUT NOW.”
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is responding to calls for help in at least one neighborhood.
“Our cut teams are out cutting trees, trying to open up some of the roadways,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said on the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. “There are downed power lines and trees everywhere. Please stay indoors. We’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out.”
Though northeast Florida is seeing flooding now, the worst is yet to come. Storm surge peak is this afternoon and evening along this part of Florida’s coast, Intracoastal Waterway and St. Johns River. The St. Johns Basin will see at least two weeks of moderate to major flooding after the peak later today.
(MORE: Storm Surge: Separating Myth From Fact Could Save Your Life)
Milton brought Tampa a total of 11.43 inches of rainfall Wednesday, breaking the city’s monthly rainfall record in just one day. The city’s previous wettest October was in 1922, a month that received 10.33 inches of rain.
Storm surge and high tide along with heavy rainfall are combining, flooding the St. Johns River, causing moderate to major inundation in parts of St. Johns Putnam and Flagler counties.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office warned people not to drive through floodwaters and shared photos of some of the scenes around the county.
A crane came crashing down late last night in downtown St. Petersburg, striking a building that houses the offices of the Tampa Bay Times. Here's what's known as this hour, via the Tampa Bay Times:
- The crane was being used for the construction of a new residential high-rise being built across from the newspaper's offices.
- Nobody was hurt, and no one was inside either building affected by the crane collapse.
- The crane fell onto 1st Avenue South and completely blocked the street.
- This crane, and two others at the construction site, were reportedly rated to withstand 110-mph winds.
Tropicana Field, home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, suffered major damage when several panels of the roof were ripped off by Milton's powerful winds last night. The building was being used to house essential personnel tasked with storm response, and the playing field was lined with hundreds of cots.
"No first responders were being staged at Tropicana Field and the essential personnel that were there are all accounted for and safe," a Tampa Bay Rays spokesperson told ABC News. "Teams will be assessing the situation more when it is safe to do so."
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 3 million homes and businesses are in the dark in Florida. That accounts for roughly one out of every four customers statewide.
Unsurprisingly, the counties with the largest percentage of customers in the dark are closest to where Milton made landfall. Nearly everyone has lost power in Manatee and Sarasota counties, and Hillsborough County, where Tampa is the county seat, has half a million powerless homes and businesses.
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