Hurricane Milton moved off Florida’s east coast early this AM, downgraded to a Cat. 1 storm. Milton made landfall around 2030 ET on Wednseday near Siesta Key, Florida, a barrier island next to Sarasota. The storm’s destructive winds and torrential rains sparked widespread power outages to over 3 million customers in the state.
As of 0500 ET, the National Hurricane Center said Milton’s eye was about ten miles northeast of Cape Canaveral and traversing into the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds above 85 mph, making it still a dangerous Cat. 1.
5 am EDT – Hurricane #Milton moving off the coast of east-central Florida. Still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rains. Here are the Key Messages. Go to https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ for details. pic.twitter.com/w14GGYpPDL
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 10, 2024
Powerful winds were recorded in Tampa, with some areas recording over 100 mph during the overnight hours after the landfall event.
As Milton raced across the central part of Florida, hurricane-force wind and flash floods sparked more than 3.25 million power outages, according to the latest data from power tracking website Poweroutage.US.
“We have an unprecedented number of our customers who are without power,” Tampa Electric President and CEO Archie Collins told CNN’s Kasie Hunt earlier this AM.
Collins said as daylight emerges, survey crews will better understand the nature of the damage to the grid.
“The eyewall did travel right across Hillsborough County, and that is a game changer,” he said, adding, “These were the strongest winds that we believe have been experienced in Hillsborough County in as long as anyone can remember. The damage out there I think is going to be significantly more than our customers have experienced in their lifetimes.”
Storm damage footage was uploaded on X:
This is the construction crane that collapsed and fell into the Tampa Bay Times building. The damage to the building is catastrophic collapsing multiply floors. The water lines broke flooding the building. #flwx #HurricaneMilton #SaintPetersburg pic.twitter.com/4gyh8HQtsF
— Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) October 10, 2024
One of my security agents inside @tropicanafield pic.twitter.com/eFyHOvPZQm
— Ryan Stryker (@Stryker175) October 10, 2024
The crane that came down at St Pete’s.
Came down and obliterated the corner of the adjacent building pic.twitter.com/m4WxaXwlJg
— Joey Krastel (@NimbusStorms) October 10, 2024
Storm surge home inundation Venice Bay, FL along the river from Hurricane Milton pic.twitter.com/ZHQijUbMrY
— Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerUSA) October 10, 2024
Intense and dangerous storm surge in #Sarasota. Unbelievable. Some drivers struggling to get out. Live on AccuWeather TV & NOW Streaming @accuweather @AccuRayno @RealJonPorter #FLwx pic.twitter.com/ba7wBmFsIv
— Bill Wadell (@BillWadell) October 10, 2024
#TropicanaField roof ripped off by #HurricaneMilton in Tampa St. Pete #RaysBaseball #RaysUp #Tropicanastadium #MLB @jpetramala pic.twitter.com/IfIWYm5hNq
— WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) October 10, 2024
Hurricane #Milton has cleared #Tampa and the west coast of Florida.
However, the @uscg will need to clear the port for operations before ships can be cleared to arrive. pic.twitter.com/GaW0HQRVAN
— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) October 10, 2024
Forecast models show Milton’s next path.
Tropics are active.
Fox Weather pointed out, “Milton’s intensity made it the fifth-strongest cyclone on record in the Atlantic Basin, only falling short of records held by Wilma (2005), Gilbert (1988) Labor Day (1935) and Rita (2005).”
Legend.
For those following the saga of Jay, or, “Lt. Dan” from my YouTube video, he is still here, asleep #HurricaneMilton #Tampa pic.twitter.com/vpGRd8QnWz
— Jonathan Petramala (@jpetramala) October 10, 2024
“Lieutenant Dan” UPDATE : He survived to talk about his wild night riding out Hurricane Milton on his 20 ft sailboat. #LieutenantDan #HurricaneMilton pic.twitter.com/Ao6pkf0q2I
— Kevin ODonnell Fox13🟦 (@ODonnellFox13) October 10, 2024
The double impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in just several weeks has proven devastating for some Floridians.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 10/10/2024 – 07:20
