BREAKING NEWS : Hurricane Milton live updates: Monster storm slams into Florida; deaths confirmed The dangerous storm spawned a tornado outbreak ahead of landfall. Millions were without power after the hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 storm.
Hurricane Milton continues with powerful winds and flash flooding across Florida
Reporting from FORT MYERS, Florida
Hurricane Milton continues to bring powerful winds and the risk of deadly flash flooding as it moves across central Florida. Over 3 million people are without power. NBC News’ Jay Gray reports from Fort Myers on the latest details on Hurricane Milton.
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More than 70,000 in government shelters, FEMA administrator says
Patrick SmithPatrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell confirmed this morning that more than 70,000 people took refuge in government shelters overnight, after 31 counties issued evacuation orders.
Although the storm has weakened and is slowly moving towards the Atlantic, she told BBC radio that the threat had not yet passed.
“The wind, even though it’s decreasing, the threats are not decreasing,” she said.
“With the increased amount of rain, with the threat of flash flooding happening, you need to stay put. Don’t go out, try to make sure you’re as safe as possible.”
Milton continues to produce strong winds as center nears Cape Canaveral
Hurricane Milton continues to produce strong winds across the east coast of Florida, as its center nears Cape Canaveral, the National Hurricane Center said in a 4 a.m. ET update.
Strong winds were reported to have spread along Florida’s east coast as the center of Milton advanced toward Cape Canaveral, the NHC said. As of around 4 a.m., the center of the storm was about 10 miles northwest of the cape in Brevard County.
Sustained winds as high as 83 mph, with a gust of up to 92 mph, were reported at a weather station in Marineland, it said.
The NHC said its 4 a.m. post would be its final hourly position update for Milton since the center of the hurricane was expected to move offshore of the east coast of Florida. The next full forecast advisory will be published at 5 a.m. ET.
5 taken to hospitals in Palm Beach County after multiple tornadoes reported
At least five people had to be taken to hospitals for medical treatment after Palm Beach County firefighters responded to multiple reports of tornadoes and people trapped in the Wellington, Acreage, and Loxahatchee areas yesterday, officials said.
The five people, including three trauma patients, were transported to hospitals, while others with minor injuries were treated on the ground.
Fire crews, meanwhile, reported seeing several damaged homes, as well as vehicles that had been “picked up and moved” by heavy winds. The fire rescue warned residents to stay off the roads in these areas as there was still “a lot of debris,” rendering some roads impassable, while it also issued a reminder to never touch downed power lines.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said it started receiving 911 calls just before 5 p.m. ET yesterday, with the calls continuing to pour in for more than 50 minutes.
At least 40 units were sent to hard-hit communities, while the tornado was still circulating, the fire service. Firefighters were able to locate and rescue several people from damaged structures and cars, with some trapped under rubble or stuck in vehicles that had been overturned by heavy winds, including an RV.
Cars trapped by Milton floodwaters outside Tampa
Max Butterworth
A vehicle is stranded on a flooded street after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Brandon, Florida last night. 
A submerged vehicle in Brandon, Fla., after Milton made landfall last night. Miguel J. Rodriguez / AFP – Getty Images
3 million energy customers without power across Florida
Patrick SmithPatrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
More than 3 million energy customers are now without power in the hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall, according to PowerOutage.us, meaning more than a quarter of the energy connections tracked by that site are currently down.
Among the worst hit areas are coastal counties including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota, as well as inland Hardee county where almost all the 9,600 tracked energy connections are down.
Authorities have warned that connections could be down for weeks to come and both state and federal resources have already been deployed to assist in the recovery.
Storm surge, hurricane and tropical storm warnings remain in place
A number of weather warnings remain in place for parts of Florida and surrounding areas as Milton continues to bring heavy rains and damaging winds.
A storm surge warning, which means there is a “danger of life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland from the coastline,” is in effect for Florida’s west coast from Flamingo northward to Anclote River, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay, the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in their latest advisory.
A storm surge warning also remains in place from the Sebastian Inlet in Florida to Altamaha Sound further north in neighboring Georgia, including the St. Johns River.
Meanwhile, a hurricane warning is in effect for Florida’s west coast from Bonita Beach northward to the Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay, and for the Florida east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach.
Tropical Storm Warnings are further in place for the Florida Keys, including the Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay and Lake Okeechobee, as well as for the Florida west coast from Flamingo to south of Bonita Beach and from north of the Suwanee River to Indian Pass.
The Florida east coast south of the St. Lucie/Martin County Line to Flamingo and north of Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida to Edisto Beach in South Carolina are also under warnings, along with the extreme northwestern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama Island, the Abacos and Bimini.
Hurricane Milton moving northeast over Florida with 85 mph winds and torrential rain
Hurricane Milton brought torrential rainfall to portions of the north and east of Florida. It is expected to head out to sea again off the east coast early Thursday morning. NBC News meteorologist Michelle Grossman has the very latest details on Early Today.
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Milton sustained wind speed slows to 85 mph
Patrick SmithPatrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
The National Hurricane Center said in a 3 a.m. ET update that Milton’s sustained wind speeds had dropped to 85 mph, meaning it is still a Category 1 Hurricane more than six hours after made landfall.
The storm was 45 miles east-south-east of Orlando at 3 a.m., the NHC said, moving east-north-east at 16 mph. A gust of 81 mph was recorded at Daytona Beach International Airport.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm at 8.30 p.m. last night near Siesta Key, Florida.
St. Petersburg mayor says new climate-driven storm reality will require infrastructure re-think
Patrick SmithPatrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
The double impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton shows how towns and cities across Florida will have to prepare and adapt to a future of more frequent and powerful storms, the mayor of St. Petersburg said last night.
“This is just an example of our new normal, as storms become more powerful, they are moving more quickly and they’re really testing our infrastructure,” Ken Welch told “Alex Wagner Tonight” on MSNBC last night.
“The pace of change that we’re seeing in the strength of these storms and the impact is really outweighing our capital investment, so we’ve got to look at our sewer plans, to waste water, to sea walls, all these things have to be improved at a rapid pace,” he said.
Welch said his city was “blessed” that Milton landed 50 miles north, but added that it was still feeling its severe effects. The city and Pinellas County asked about half a million people to evacuate and Welch said they had responded better than during Hurricane Helene.
He said that the debris left over from Helene would have taken six months to remove and city workers were forced to do as much as they could in a few days.
Taylor Swift donates $5 million to Helene, Milton relief efforts
Mega star Taylor Swift gave a $5 million donation to the relief efforts for Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Feeding America announced yesterday.
“This contribution will help communities rebuild and recover, providing essential food, clean water, and supplies to people affected by these devastating storms,” the non-profit organization said in a statement on social media. “Thank you, Taylor, for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and helping communities in need.”
Home security cam shows in-ground pool and yard filled with Milton waters
Security camera footage from a home in Manasota Key, Florida, shows an in-ground pool and backyard filled with floodwaters from Hurricane Milton.
Watch: Tornado tears through Florida highway
A tornado tore through a highway in Wellington, Florida, one of a number of tornadoes that touched down in the state ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall.
Milton weakens to a Category 1 storm; flash flood emergency continues
Hurricane Milton’s winds weakened to 90 mph early Thursday, making it a Category 1 storm, but a flash flood emergency over parts of Florida continued, the National Hurricane Center said.
The center of the storm was around 40 miles south-southwest of Orlando, and it was moving east-northeast at around 16 mph as it crosses the state, the agency said in a 1 a.m. advisory.
The hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key on Florida’s western coast, but by 1 a.m. damaging winds were starting to reach the state’s Atlantic coast, the hurricane center said.
Orlando police, firefighters pulled from roads because of wind
Orlando police officers and firefighters have been temporarily pulled from roads because of winds of over 40 mph, the city announced early Thursday.
“When the wind speed decreases they will be able to respond to calls for service. Residents should continue to shelter in place,” Orlando’s government said on X.
Hurricane Milton was around 60 miles south-southwest of Orlando as of midnight, the National Hurricane Center said in an update, and it was moving east-northeast at 16 mph.
Hurricane damages roof of Tropicana Field, home to Tampa Bay Rays
Hurricane Milton damaged the roof of Tropicana Field and caused a crane to collapse in St. Petersburg, the city confirmed.
Video posted to social media showed both incidents, with some of the roof of Tropicana Field seemingly ripped off. The crane collapsed at a construction site, the city said.
“No injuries have been reported in either incident at this time,” a spokesperson for the city said.
Video appeared to show roof damage at the stadium. “Indeed, they did lose some of the roof at the Tropicana,” Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Jason Dougherty said on MSNBC early Thursday local time.
He said he didn’t know more details. Tampa is in Hillsborough County, and St. Petersburg is in adjacent Pinellas County. St. Petersburg recorded a wind speed of 101 mph at around 10:30 p.m., the National Weather Service in Tampa said.
A spokesperson for the Tampa Bay Rays said that “no first responders were being staged at Tropicana Field and the essential personnel that were there are all accounted for and safe.”
Biden updated on situation in Florida after landfall
President Biden has been briefed on the situation in Florida and Hurricane Milton’s initial impact in the state, the White House said.
Homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell updated Biden about the storm and its damage.
Milton expected to stay a hurricane as it moves across Florida, drenching state
Although it has weakened slightly since it made landfall, Milton is expected to retain hurricane intensity the entire time it travels across the Florida Peninsula, the National Hurricane Center said.
The hurricane was a Category 2 storm and was “bringing devastating rains and damaging winds” across parts of Florida at 11 p.m., the agency said in an advisory, after it made landfall on Florida’s western coast this evening.
The center of the storm was about 75 miles southwest of Orlando, with maximum sustained winds of around 105 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. It was traveling east-northeast at 16 mph.
The hurricane will cross the central part of Florida overnight into Thursday and then leave the state and enter the Atlantic on Thursday, the NHC said.
St. Lucie County is in ‘100% rescue mode’ after deadly tornado
The county where at least two people died in a tornado today is in “100% rescue mode” with members of the Florida National Guard and local law enforcement officers working on the ground to help victims, St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said.
“We haven’t even seen the effects of Hurricane Milton yet,” he said. “Right now we’re focused on, you know, no matter how the storm comes, we’re going to rescue as many people as we can.”
The sheriff’s department is focusing recovery efforts on a senior living community that was completely destroyed, Pearson added.
“There were cars lifted and flipped upside down, moved hundreds of yards,” he said. “I can tell you that there was nothing left to some of these places but foundations.”
Pearson estimates 100 residences were destroyed in the county after roughly 17 tornadoes touched down.
70 mph gusts blow through Daytona
Reporting from Daytona, Florida
In Daytona Beach, wind gusts are reaching 70 mph and debris is flying, with the worst of Milton yet to come.
Winds and debris shatter window in West Palm Beach home
Video captured the moment strong winds and debris from Hurricane Milton shattered the window of a home. Gasps can be heard in the background as the glass cracks.
Winds continue to whip through Tampa
Reporting from Tampa, Florida
Just when I thought the wind gusts from this storm could not get any stronger, I appear to have been proven wrong.
The intensity of Milton’s winds have been steadily growing in Tampa all evening. I doubt this will be the worst of it, unfortunately.
Estimated 125 homes destroyed in tornado activity ahead of Milton
Reports following tornadoes that touched down in Florida as Hurricane Milton approached the state suggest that more than 100 homes have been destroyed, a state emergency management official said.
Tornadoes that were confirmed by radar struck the state before the hurricane made landfall, and rescue teams responded to structural collapses, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the state Division of Emergency Management.
“We’re receiving somewhere in the neighborhood — this is really, really rough numbers right now — about 125 homes that have been destroyed, mostly mobile homes,” he said at a news conference.
Map: Reported power outages in Florida
Across Florida, 1.6 million customers are in the dark, and this is where the power outages are, according to sensor data from Whisker Labs.
Hurricane Milton weakens slightly; Tampa Bay area under flash flood emergency
Hurricane Milton’s maximum sustained winds dropped to 110 mph as it continued to move inland, the National Hurricane Center said in a 10 p.m. advisory.
That wind speed would make the hurricane on the high end of a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
The Tampa Bay area, including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, was under a flash flood emergency, the National Hurricane Center said. People there are urged to move to higher ground and to not drive through floodwaters.
The hurricane made landfall near Siesta Key as a Category 3 storm at around 8:30 p.m.
Lights out in Fort Myers
Reporting from Fort Myers, Florida
Power outages have knocked out many of the lights in Fort Myers. The wind continues to whip as Milton passes over.
Time-lapse video shows clouds and rain over Sarasota as Hurricane Milton approached the state.
Heavy rain, catastrophic winds reported across Florida
In St. Petersburg, 5 inches of rain fell in one hour, adding to the foot of rain that was dumped on the city in the last 24 hours. Catastrophic flooding will occur with the rain across the region.
Farther south, there is a storm surge.
Bradenton and St. Petersburg have recorded winds up to 96 mph, and in Sarasota, 90 mph winds were recorded. Wind destruction is also expected across the region.
What’s making this storm even more dangerous is that it will move east and traverse Florida in the next day. Normally, a storm will weaken over land, but because Florida is not that wide, it does not give the storm much opportunity to come down in terms of strength.
The potential for tornadoes remains on the outer bands of the storm as it moves across the state.
Hurricane-force winds are whipping debris and shredding trees
Reporting from Sarasota, Florida
Wind speeds have picked to 102 mph in Sarasota. The tops of palm trees are being shredded and sent scattering into the dark. We heard metal scraping as it was ripped off its base.
Even from the inside of a parking garage several feet above sea level, our crews can see water on the street rising quickly.
NBC News’ Tom Llamas and his team escaped strong gusts and rain from Hurricane Milton as it entered Sarasota.
While it was reporting out in the storm, the team had to rush inside as wind and rain became too powerful to bear, with Llamas saying a transformer exploded over them as the storm picked up.
NBC News meteorologist Angie Lassman explained what their crew experienced: first, a drop in pressure and extreme calm as the eye passed over the area. Once the eye passed, though, Llamas and his crew experienced the worst Milton has to offer.
The eye wall is where the strongest winds live, as evidenced by Llamas and his crew’s being blown from their location. But Lassman said that the crew is not in the worst of it and that conditions are even more aggressive a little farther north.
Hurricane is unfolding as predicted
The heavy rain, dangerous storm surges and catastrophic wind gusts meteorologists expected when Hurricane Milton made landfall are beginning to take shape, said Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center.
“All of the hazards that were predicted with this particular landfall are unfolding,” he said.
NOAA has already received a report of wind gust of over 102 mph and expects the peak storm surge to be 9 to 13 feet.
The agency is closely monitoring the Interstate 4 corridor that connects Tampa, Orlando and Daytona because of the dense population and expected hazardous conditions in the next several hours, Rhome said.
Deaths reported in St. Lucie County after tornado, sheriff says
A tornado that hit St. Lucie County this afternoon as Hurricane Milton approached the state killed multiple people, Sheriff Keith Pearson said.
The tornado touched down at 4:28 p.m. in the Spanish Lakes Country Club community in Fort Pierce, he said. A spokesperson for the St. Lucie Fire District said that there were two confirmed deaths and that multiple other people were taken to hospitals.
The effects of Milton triggered tornadoes across Florida as it approached the state’s Gulf Coast. There have been 19 confirmed tornado touchdowns statewide, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
County Communications Director Erick Gill said that there were multiple tornadoes that hit the county. “We have multiple crews and agencies responding to this event, which is unfolding as we speak,” he said in a 6:15 p.m. update.
St. Lucie Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Chris Dzadovsky urged people to stay home because of the threat of tornadoes from Milton. St. Lucie County is on the Atlantic Coast.
Lights flicker in downtown Fort Myers
Reporting from Fort Meyers, Florida
A transformer blew out and the lights are flickering on and off in downtown Fort Myers as floodwaters begin to overtake the streets.
Storm surge is now the biggest concern for this area, especially when you factor in powerful sustained winds.
First responders have said they are unlikely to conduct rescues in the middle of the storm, which means anyone who did not evacuate will now have to wait out the hurricane.
Nearly 100,000 people are in Florida shelters, official says
Reporting from Tampa, Florida
Nearly 100,000 people are in Florida’s evacuation centers tonight — nowhere near the state’s capacity, a top emergency management official said.
Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said roughly 220,000 beds were available across the state earlier today.
Although some counties reported their shelters were at capacity, Guthrie said, officials still said they had plenty of room left.
The science of how Hurricane Milton became such a monster
At nearly every turn, Hurricane Milton has offered surprises.
What started as a small, tightly wound hurricane has grown into a sprawling monster that intensified at one of the fastest rates in recorded history. The storm threatens to send a dangerous surge of water to parts of both Florida’s west and east coasts, with the flood-prone metropolitan area of Tampa Bay — home to more than 3 million people — at particular risk.
As the storm developed, record warm seas in the Gulf of Mexico aided its intensification. Later, it grew in size as it underwent a process of eyewall replacement.
Here’s how Milton developed into such a significant threat.
Intense wind and rain swirl around storm chaser in Bradenton
Intense wind and rain swirled around storm chaser Ben McMillan as he shouted over loud gusts live on NBC News in Bradenton, where Milton is raging.
He said significant storm surges were coming in from the bay as conditions quickly go downhill. He added that he is seeing power flashes in the distance.
“The last few moments have gotten extremely violent with the wind,” McMillan said. “It’s safe to say the storm is not over yet.”
Power outages, storm surge concerns hit Sarasota County
Tom Llamas
Reporting from Sarasota, Florida
About 160,000 customers don’t have power in Sarasota County, where emergency management officials are also closely tracking the storm surge.
Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi said that much of the area experienced a storm surge of about 5 to 6 feet during Hurricane Helene and that anything more than that would be catastrophic for the area.
Hurricane Milton moving inland with storm surge, extreme winds and floods
The center of Milton was moving inland into Florida at 9 p.m. after the hurricane made landfall not far from Sarasota around a half-hour earlier, forecasters said.
The center of Milton, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm, was around 5 miles north of Sarasota, and it was moving east-northeast at 15 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm’s maximum sustained wind speed was 115 mph, which makes it still a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
Life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding continue as the hurricane moves inland, the National Hurricane Center said.
Strongest part of hurricane still to hit Sarasota
Tom Llamas
Sarasota remains in the eye of the storm, where it has been eerily quiet for about 45 minutes.
I’ve covered a lot of hurricanes, and you forget how still it can get. Trees were knocked down earlier, and then suddenly it just stopped.
Some people have come out in their cars and out of their hotel rooms to look around when they should be sheltering in place. When we get to the back of the eye wall, it will be a very different story.
After Helene, people taking storm surge more seriously, Sarasota mayor says
People in the Sarasota area have been taking the threat of Hurricane Milton and its storm surge seriously after what happened with Hurricane Helene, the mayor said.
Helene flooded Florida’s Gulf Coast with storm surge before it made landfall in the Big Bend on Sept. 26. More than 240 people died in six states, including 25 in Florida.
“People after Helene realized that it really isn’t a joke to say that there’s going to be storm surge,” Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert said.
“Before that, we heard that all the time — I have to admit myself — but it never happened,” Alpert said. “But this time it happened. People saw what it could do and took this warning seriously.”
In Charlotte County, south of Sarasota, some past storms were mainly severe winds, Sheriff Bill Prummell said.
With Helene, there were storm surge and flooding that severely damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 homes, he said, even though the center of that storm was 180 miles offshore when it passed.
“So I think once people realized that the storm surge was coming here and it was going to be probably three times what Helene was, they started to get out,” Prummell said.
More than 1 million without power in Florida
Power outages are rising rapidly in Florida, with 1,115,813 customers powerless at 9:15 p.m., according to poweroutage.us, about 45 minutes after Milton made landfall.
Sarasota, Manatee and Hardee are the most affected counties. Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall, is in Sarasota County.
Orlando residents urged to shelter within the next 30 minutes
Priscilla Thompson
Reporting from Orlando, Florida
Officials in Orlando are warning residents that if they aren’t sheltered in place in the next 30 minutes, it’ll be too late.
The eye of Milton is passing over Sarasota and will continue to creep east across the state toward Orlando.
Tampa beginning to feel Milton’s power
Reporting from Tampa, Florida
Electricity is flickering in and out. Palm trees appear as though they’re about to snap. Street lamps waver back and forth.
Even from the safety of my Tampa hotel room, Milton’s ferociousness is becoming increasingly hard to look away from.
Ferocious gusts blowing in Tampa
Stephanie Gosk
Reporting from Tampa, Florida
In Tampa, about 73 miles north of where Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, ferocious gusts are blowing.
Trees are being bent over by the wind and signs are on the ground across the city as it faces a one-two punch it has not experienced in a very long time.
It has been raining all day in Tampa, but the rain has gotten much stronger recently. In one area of the city, 2 to 3 inches of rain per hour could fall, on top of what has already fallen today.
In total, Tampa could get upward of a foot of rain just weeks after it was flooded by Hurricane Helene.
Tom Llamas
Tom Llamas and Jesse Kirsch
Reporting from Sarasota, Fla.
The night appeared quiet and calm in Sarasota as Milton’s eye passed over tonight, but the hurricane’s most powerful winds and storm surge are still expected to come.
With no rain or wind, drivers could be seen doing donuts, racing and driving toward nearby barrier islands.
In anticipation of the incoming danger, authorities were nowhere to be seen.
About 10 hurt, buildings are destroyed in Wellington after reported tornado
About 10 people were injured in Wellington after a reported tornado today as Hurricane Milton approached Florida, the town manager said.
There were varying levels of injury, from minor to those requiring life support, Wellington Village Manager Jim Barnes said.
Some buildings were obliterated, cars were flipped and came to rest against houses, and trees were torn down, said Barnes, who witnessed some of the devastation.
Wellington is a town of around 65,000 close to the Atlantic coast, about 13 miles west of West Palm Beach.
There were 19 confirmed tornado touchdowns in Florida today as the hurricane approached, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Numerous counties have reported tornado damage,” he said.
Expect heavy rain and extreme gusts for several hours
Bill Karins
Heavy rain and extreme wind warning will continue for all areas north of Sarasota, contributing to wind gust up to 96 mph.
The storm will move through central Florida throughout the next several hours. Orlando could get wind gusts up to 80 mph.
The rain will become a huge issue near Tampa as flash flood warnings continue for the entire region, which could get 10 inches.
Sarasota falls quiet as eye passes over
Reporting from Sarasota, Florida
The eye of Hurricane Milton is passing over Sarasota, leaving an eerie quiet before the rest of the storm slams this coastal area. There are even birds chirping.
Fort Myers mayor gives update after Milton landfall
Tom Llamas
Reporting from Sarasota, Florida
Luckily for people in Fort Myers, Milton is not quite “as bad as we anticipated,” Mayor Kevin Anderson told NBC News live just minutes after he lost power and nearly 30 minutes after Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, about 75 miles north of Fort Myers.
Anderson said there are a “little bit of wind gusts, some light rain.”
The city was victim of a number of tornadoes earlier today, which “definitely caught us off-guard,” Anderson said. “We weren’t expecting to have so many of them, let alone one, but luckily they weren’t too bad.”
Anderson said that “a majority, more than usual,” of people in Fort Myers listened to evacuation warnings and that downtown businesses were boarded up — something they hadn’t done in the past.
More than 779,000 customers without power in Florida
There were 779,850 power customers without electricity across Florida at around 9 tonight, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us.
Some of the counties with power outages are on the Atlantic Coast. Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on the Gulf Coast around 8:30 p.m.
The storm has a wide impact, and tropical storm-force winds extended up to 225 miles from its center, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 35 miles from the center, it said shortly before landfall.
Water rising in Fort Myers
Reporting from Fort Myers, Florida
Water is steadily rising here in downtown Fort Myers. There’s a solid foot or two of water running down the street.
Hurricane Milton makes landfall
Hurricane Milton has made landfall near Siesta Key, the National Hurricane Center said at 8:30 p.m.
The eye wall of the huge storm earlier began moving onshore near Tampa and St. Petersburg. Life-threatening rain, storm surge and wind all preceded the landfall of the center and will continue, the National Hurricane Center said.
Siesta Key is a barrier island adjacent to Sarasota. The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, the agency said.
Emergency declaration OK’d in Florida; thousands of federal personnel ready to respond
The federal government approved an emergency declaration ahead of Milton’s making landfall, with “thousands of federal personnel on the ground” ready to respond, Biden said.
At a briefing, Biden said that at his direction, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “prepositioned” search-and-rescue teams, helicopters and high-speed water vehicles “as close to the storm as possible so they’re ready to conduct life-saving missions.”
The director of FEMA will also be in Florida’s emergency operations center, and the federal government has 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water at the ready, Biden said.
‘Milton still carries incredible destructiveness,’ Biden warns
Hurricane Milton “still carries incredible destructiveness, can wipe out communities and cause loss of life,” Biden said.
The storm surge is still expected to be up to 13 feet, he said in a news briefing, urging people to listen to local officials and follow all their safety instructions.