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Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday night along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, major storm surge, heavy rain and chances for major flooding for much of the state.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it roared ashore at 8:30 p.m. near Siesta Key, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. While Tampa avoided a direct hit, it was included in a deadly storm surge that also hit densely populated areas of St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
Hours before the storm made landfall, as many as 27 tornadoes touched down in the region, shutting down Florida's Interstate 75 and prompting search and rescue efforts from officials.
About 90 minutes after making landfall Wednesday night, Milton was centered about 20 miles northeast of Sarasota and had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles-per-hour.
Despite the downgrade, it was no less dangerous, as the National Weather Service issued a rare flash flood emergency statement for the Tampa Bay area.
Overnight into Thursday, extensive damage had begun to pile up.
Posts and video on social media showed a construction crane that collapsed and fell into the Tampa Bay Times building, which lead to broken water lines and "catastrophic collapsing" of multiple floors.
Local
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
Posts on social media also showed the roof of Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, had been "torn to shreds."
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More angles of the destroyed fabric roof of Tropicana Field.
— Matt Dursh (@MattDursh) October 10, 2024
This is currently serving as a shelter and staging area for first responders during Hurricane Milton, which adds to the devastation. pic.twitter.com/5KIGc1BHCu
The Rays’ stadium was not being used as a shelter, but the Tampa Bay Times reported that it was being used as “a staging site for workers” who were brought to the area to deal with the storm’s aftermath.
As of early Thursday morning, more than 3.2 million people in Florida remain without power.
'Devastating rains' expected
Hurricane Milton, which weakened to a Category 1 storm overnight, will continue to bring “devastating rains and damaging winds” across the central Florida peninsula throughout Thursday before exiting the state late in the day for the Atlantic Ocean, the National Weather Service says.
According to NBC's Al Roker, St. Petersburg saw 18.5 inches inches of rain over the past 24 hours.
"A 1 in 1,000 year rainfall event," Roker said.
While storm surge levels were slowly coming down early Thursday morning along the west coast of Florida, they were continuing along the south, NBC's Al Roker said Thursday morning.
The weather service said Boca Grande, Florida, could see a surge as high as 13 feet above ground if it hits at the same time as high tide
The service also said tornadoes were possible through early Thursday morning over parts of central and eastern Florida.
Track Hurricane Milton, now a Category 1 storm
Track the hurricane live below as it continues to move across Florida
Latest Florida evacuation orders: List of counties
Fourteen Florida counties, were still under mandatory evacuation orders Thursday morning. The evacuation order for Levy County had been lifted.
Here's the full list:
- Charlotte County
- Citrus County
- Collier County
- Flagler County
- Hernando County
- Hillsborough County
- Lee County
- Manatee County
- Marion County
- Pasco County
- Pinellas County
- Sarasota County
- St. Johns County
- Volusia County
Multiple other Florida counties had voluntary evacuation orders, including Seminole County, Palm Beach County, Osceola County, Orange County, Nassau County and Miami-Dade County. A full list from the Florida officials can be found here.
What is the highest category for a hurricane?
Hurricane categories are based on what is known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
The rating categorizes hurricanes on a scale of 1 to 5 based on sustained wind speeds, according to the National Weather Service.
"This scale estimates potential property damage," the NWS reports. "Hurricanes reaching Category 3 and higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant loss of life and damage. Category 1 and 2 storms are still dangerous, however, and require preventative measures."
The wind speeds are calculated using a one-minute average.
Here's how they break down:
| Category One Hurricane Winds 74-95 mph. Very dangerous winds will produce some damage |
| Category Two Hurricane Winds 96-110 mph. Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage |
| Category Three Hurricane Winds 111-129 mph. Devastating damage will occur |
| Category Four Hurricane Winds 130-156 mph. Catastrophic damage will occur |
| Category Five Hurricane Winds 157 mph or higher. Catastrophic damage will occur |
In a Category Five storm, "a high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse," according to the scale.
"Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months," the description states.
Is there a Category 6?
Earlier this year, some experts proposed adding a Category 6 to the ranking for storms with winds that exceed 192 miles per hour, though no such category has been officially created so far.
Several experts told The Associated Press they don't think that category is necessary. They said it could even give the wrong signal to the public because it's based on wind speed, while water is by far the deadliest killer in hurricanes.
See the latest list here.
What causes a hurricane?
Hurricanes often start as tropical waves that combine with warm ocean waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They may also be fueled by thunderstorms. The weather system moves west as warm ocean air rises into it, and that creates a low pressure area underneath it, NOAA said. Air rises and cools, and that forms clouds and thunderstorms.
Hurricanes have maximum sustained winds — the highest one-minute average wind speed at a particular point in time — of 74 mph (120 kph) or higher. If a tropical cyclone has maximum sustained winds between 39 and 73 mph (63 kph to 120 kph), it’s called a tropical storm. If maximum sustained winds are less than 39 mph (63 kph), it’s called a tropical depression.
Hurricanes typically occur during hurricane season, which in the Atlantic basin occurs each year from June 1 to Nov. 30.
