Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key Wednesday night as the National Weather Service issued extreme wind warnings for the Tampa area.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said at a press conference earlier that Milton was in the “process of making landfall” as a Category 3 storm.
The state has experienced flooding and several tornadoes ahead of Milton’s landing.
DeSantis told residents to ride out the storm and stay in place as it is now too dangerous to evacuate. More than 500,000 homes and businesses in Florida are without power.
Less than two weeks earlier, Hurricane Helene escalated in a similarly short time span in the Gulf of Mexico before ravaging the southeastern U.S.
Federal agencies are also warning of heightened risk of scams and price gouging efforts.
Follow along for more updates.
Flash Flood continues for Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Clearwater
Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater are now facing a flash flood emergency “until 2:30 AM EDT[,]” the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Tampa field office said in a post on the social platform X.
According to the NWS and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “[e]xceedingly rare situations when a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening or will happen soon” cause the issuing of flash flood emergencies.
Steube expects ‘catastrophic devastation’ from Hurricane Milton
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) predicted on Wednesday that Hurricane Milton would bring “catastrophic devastation” to coastal communities in Florida but said he hoped it wouldn’t bring “catastrophic loss of life.”
Steube – who represents Sarasota, Fla., about 5 miles east of where the hurricane officially made landfall – said in an interview on “The Hill” on NewsNation that he hopes people listened when they were told to evacuate before the storm hit.
“Hopefully people abided the evacuation orders after what we saw in Helene,” Steube said, speaking remotely through a staticky feed, which he said was powered by a generator, since the whole community lost power.
About 125 homes destroyed before Milton’s landfall
About 125 homes were destroyed before Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday night near Sarasota. Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, told NewsNation, many of those were mobile homes in communities for senior citizens.
-Elvia Limon
Fort Myers mayor: Storm ‘relatively calm compared to what we were expecting’
Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson said on Wednesday night that Hurricane Milton was “relatively calm” compared to what he had expected.
“The winds are not as strong. The water is slowly rising and flooding our streets downtown,” Anderson told NBC News. “But we’re not yet where we were with Helene.”
Anderson also noted that his power had gone out right before the interview.
He said he was surprised by the number of tornado warnings Milton had caused ahead of making landfall near Sarasota.
“We weren’t expecting to have so many of them,” Anderson said. “Luckily, they weren’t too bad. The storm, for us, at least, isn’t as bad as we anticipated.”
-Elvia Limon
Injuries reported in Martin County from possible tornado
Injuries have been reported in Martin County, Fla., as a result of a possible tornado, authorities said in a thread on the social platform X.
“US 1/SE Federal Hwy in Port Salerno remains closed near Cove Rd after a possible tornado caused significant damage to structures, trees, light poles & power lines on the highway,” Martin County Fire Rescue said in their X thread. “Deputies continue to work the scene & firefighters are helping residents & assessing the damage.”
“It’s estimated that dozens of homes have been damaged, some severely,” the thread continued. “There have been minor/serious injuries, however, there have been no fatalities reported at this time. Please STAY OFF roads & if you need to travel, avoid US 1.”
— Tara Suter
Over 1 million Floridians without power after landfall
There are over 1 million Floridians without power shortly after the landfall of Hurricane Milton, according to PowerOutage.us
The number of people without power in the Sunshine State was up to 1,280,512 by late Wednesday night, per the tracking website. Higher concentrations of people without power occurred in counties close to where the storm made landfall in Siesta Key, Fla., including Manatee County, Sarasota County and Hardee County.
Florida Emergency Agency warns resident to stay put
The Florida Division of Emergency Management warned people not to walk out into receding water in Tampa Bay, Fla.
“The water WILL return through storm surge and poses a life-threatening risk,” the agency said in a post on X.
— Rachel Scully
Tampa Mayor tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “The next few hours are gonna be rough”
In an interview with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor (D), CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked “what should people … who are staying at home, who are in shelters, what should they be expecting [over] the next several hours in Tampa?”
“Well, hopefully, they’re just sheltering in place right now, because the next few hours are gonna be rough, here in Tampa, with the wind, the wind gusts, the rain has not stopped and the whole Tampa Bay area’s already saturated,” Castor responded.
— Tara Suter
Brian Entin is a Senior National Correspondent at NewsNation, which is owned by Nexstar Media Group along with The Hill.
Milton winds top 115 mph
Hurricane Milton was carrying maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, as of 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds had been 120 mph when the storm made landfall at 8:30 p.m.
President Biden called Sarasota mayor earlier today
President Biden called Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert on Wednesday to assure residents that the federal government “will offer extensive support,” according to a post on the social media platform X.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, Fla., near Sarasota.
“The President wanted to see if there is anything we need in Sarasota to let him know. He understands this is going to be an unprecedented type of hurricane and also understands it will take a lot from the federal government to help us recover in Sarasota.”
“We’re grateful for the support and thank President Biden for reaching out,” said Mayor Liz Alpert, according to the post.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg called Alpert earlier this week in preparation for the storm, the post added.
Flash flood warning issued for Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater
The National Weather Service’s forecast office in Tampa said in a post on the social platform X on Wednesday night that a flash flood warning has been issued for the Florida cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater “until 11:30 PM EDT[.]”
The storm has now made landfall around Siesta Key, Fla., which is south of the cities covered by the flash flood warning.
— Tara Suter
Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Fla., according to the National Hurricane Center.
The center described the hurricane as an “extremely dangerous Category 3” storm.
— Rachel Scully
More than 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida are without power
More than 600,000 homes and businesses are without power as Hurricane Milton makes landfall on the Florida Coast. Currently, the counties seeing the most outages are Hernando, Pinellas, Manatee, Hardee, Martin and Indian River, according to data from poweroutage.us.
DeSantis says first responders are ready ‘as soon as weather conditions allow’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reiterated his earlier comments for people to “shelter in place” in a post on the social media platform X on Wednesday night.
“First responders are staged and ready to go, as soon as weather conditions allow. Search and rescue efforts will be well underway to save lives before dawn, and they will continue for as long as it takes,” he said in the post.
-Elvia Limon
Sarasota County emergency services paused
“At about 40, 45 mile-an-hour, we pulled everyone off the road. That was consistent county-wide for getting those speeds, we pulled the first responders in, EMS and my deputies, Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told NBC News. “We’ve got about 100 cars here at our headquarters hunkered down for the rest of the storm.”
Hoffman noted that the windows at the headquarters were creaking on Wednesday night.
“The wind is certainly ramping up. We can hear it outside,” He said. “Recorded speeds at Sarasota airport are already at 70 miles an hour.”
-Elvia Limon
Taylor Swift donates $5M to Feeding America’s hurricane relief efforts
Taylor Swift donated $5 million to Feeding America’s disaster relief efforts for those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the nonprofit agency announced Wednesday.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Taylor Swift for her generous $5 million donation to Hurricanes Helene and Milton relief efforts,” Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said in a statement.
DeSantis warns residents to ‘hunker down’ as Milton makes landfall
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Wednesday that Hurricane Milton “is currently in the process of making landfall” as a Category 3 hurricane in Sarasota County, and he warned residents to “hunker down” until the storm passes.
“At this point, it’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down,” DeSantis said at a press conference Wednesday evening.
Read more here.
South Florida sees nearly 100 tornado warnings as Milton nears
South Florida has seen close to 100 tornado warnings Wednesday, the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Miami forecast office said, as Hurricane Milton makes landfall in the Sunshine State.
NWS Miami said in a post on the social platform X that “98 Tornado Warnings” were “issued today by NWS Tampa Bay, NWS Melbourne, and NWS Miami” by 6 p.m. Wednesday. The forecast office also said that there had been a “preliminary” minimum of “9 Confirmed Tornadoes today in our NWS Miami area.”
Read more here.