Eleven dead as Hurricane Milton leaves trail of destruction in Florida

The hurricane unleashed ‘devastating rains and damaging winds’ as it moved across Florida, and whipped up tornadoes that left at least 11 people dead and millions without power.

At least 11 people were killed when Hurricane Milton hit the Florida coast, leaving a trail of destruction and triggering damaging storm surges and tornadoes that destroyed homes and left millions without power.

However as Milton churned across Florida with heavy winds, rain and tornadoes, cutting a destructive path, it appeared to spare the state from some of the worst feared outcomes.

Milton roared ashore near Siesta Key in Sarasota County as a Category 3 storm about 8.30pm local time (11.30am Thursday AEDT), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane late Wednesday night before weakening to a Category 1 early Thursday, but was still packing powerful winds of up to 150km/h.

Milton triggered tornadoes before its arrival, with “multiple fatalities” after one twister struck a senior living community on Florida’s east coast.

By 5am Thursday, more than three million homes and businesses across Florida were without power.

The National Hurricane Center said Milton was moving off the coast of east-central Florida but was “still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rains”.

Palm trees bend in the wind after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Brandon, Florida on October 9. Picture: AFP

‘Multiple fatalities’

Deaths have been reported after a tornado ripped through a mobile home retirement community in St Lucie County, the county sheriff said.

“We are not going to get into how many, but I can tell you it’s more than one person who has lost their life that we already recovered,” St Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told CNN.

He said about 200 people from state and local agencies are searching for people trapped at the retirement community where the tornado “left a path of destruction”.

A spokesperson for the St Lucie Fire District told NBC there were two confirmed deaths and multiple other people were taken to hospitals.

Mr Pearson said search and rescue teams are facing 80km/h winds and rain as they look for those who may be stuck.

Hundreds of homes have been “completely totalled” by tornadoes across the county, Mr Pearson said, including a 930sq m storage facility the Sheriff’s Department uses for emergency equipment.

Back-to-back hurricanes

The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued Florida a record number of tornado warnings, which indicate a twister has been spotted or detected by radar. The storm is likely to exacerbate the devastation wrought by Helene, which tore a path of death and destruction across several states in late September.

Millions were urged to evacuate ahead of the storm. Some faced traffic jams and found gas stations out of fuel.

Florida senator Rick Scott told CNN that he was worried about residents who did not heed evacuation warnings, as well as the safety of first responders who might have to risk their lives to help them.

“People that didn’t evacuate that should’ve. We can’t take care of them now,” Mr Scott told CNN.

“You have no choice. You have to stay in place now, and you have to hunker down, and you have to keep yourself alive. I worry about our first responders that want to go out and help these people and they have to put their lives on the line,” he said.

In preparation for tonight’s landfall, I have approved emergency declaration requests from the State and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. We have thousands of federal personnel on the ground. And we have staged 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water.

At my direction,… pic.twitter.com/AckE5bEw2m

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 10, 2024

This imagery from @NOAA's #GOESEast 🛰️ is providing visible cloud imagery every 30 seconds of #HurricaneMilton as it pushes closer to Florida. Notice the frequent #lightning being picked up by the satellite's #GLM instrument as well.

Get the latest on #Milton:… https://t.co/33Yng1EYNCpic.twitter.com/5Xjb2K2Y49

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) October 9, 2024

The storm was bringing deadly storm surges to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

Tampa Bay was spared a direct hit, allaying some fears of catastrophic damage to coastal communities there. The area, which is densely populated and has seen booming development on low-lying ground, is still expected to see significant effects from the storm.

Milton slammed into a Florida region still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which caused heavy damage to beach communities with storm surges and killed at least 235 people, with emergency crews still working to provide relief.

US President Joe Biden has assured officials in Florida that he will continue to offer support to their communities for as long as it takes, The Times reported.

Mr Biden spoke to Buddy Dyer, the mayor of Orlando, and Liz Alpert, the mayor of Sarasota, along with two members of Congress from Florida on Wednesday night.

“The president told each of these leaders to call him directly if they need additional assistance on rescue, response, and recovery efforts,” a White House pool report said. He has been receiving regular briefings on the unfolding weather event, which he described earlier on Wednesday as the “storm of the century”.

This hurricane will pack a major punch: Governor DeSantis

Since rapidly strengthening on Monday, Milton’s intensity wavered between a Category 4 and a Category 5 before weakening to a strong Category 3. It is forecast to maintain hurricane strength as it crosses the Florida peninsula, the hurricane centre said.

In the eye of #Hurricane#MILTON in Downtown Sarasota #Florida. A deeply calm, meditative eye. Absolutely spectacular. pic.twitter.com/WhT3vmDklk

— Josh Morgerman (@iCyclone) October 10, 2024

Milton will likely compound the damage from Helene, which left a path of death and destruction across several states after striking Florida as a Category 4 storm less than two weeks ago. Some areas are still littered with debris that could become projectiles once Milton arrives.

“There is high confidence that this hurricane is going to pack a major, major punch and do an awful lot of damage,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Wednesday morning.

Mr DeSantis said there were 19 confirmed tornado touchdowns across Florida before the storm made landfall Wednesday. Several counties have reported tornado damage, he said.

The hurricane centre Wednesday morning urged residents to complete emergency preparations. “The time to prepare, including evacuate if told to do so, is quickly coming to an end along the Florida west coast,” the NHC said.

Officials from city mayors to Mr Biden pleaded with residents earlier Wednesday to evacuate while they still had the chance. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of nearly every county along the western coast of Florida’s peninsula.

The National Weather Service in Tampa issued a tornado watch until 9pm for much of southern Florida, including Tampa, Sarasota, Miami and Key Largo.

“This is not survivable,” said Cathie Perkins, the director of emergency management for Pinellas County, where Clearwater and St. Petersburg are located.

“This is the ocean coming into your living rooms,” Perkins said. “This is fast-rising water with a lot of pressure behind it, so don’t think you’re going to be able to ride that out.”

🚨🇺🇸 Hurricane Milton

Floridians who have lived through Storms their entire lives are reporting to have never ever witnessed anything like this.

Truth is stranger than Fiction. pic.twitter.com/QO4bk4AbIP

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) October 9, 2024

More than a fifth of gas stations across Florida were out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, according to GasBuddy. In the Tampa and St. Petersburg area, more than 60 per cent had run dry, GasBuddy said.

Inga Nash, an insurance underwriter in St. Petersburg, said she started preparing her home on Monday for Milton’s arrival, boarding up windows and filling sandbags to stop water from coming in. Helene left water halfway up her driveway, but spared her home.

Ms Nash, along with her husband and two children, left the house, which is in a mandatory evacuation zone, on Wednesday. They drove about 20 minutes to her in-laws’ home, which is on higher ground and not in an evacuation zone.

“When we left I was very worried, not knowing what we’re going to come back to,” the 32-year-old said Wednesday. “The unknown is what’s very frustrating.”

In the Orlando area, downtown parking garages were filled to capacity with vehicles stashed by residents hoping to protect them, and hotels were fully booked. At the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, the lobby on Wednesday afternoon teemed with families who evacuated their homes and linemen who were preparing for post-storm repairs.

Trey and Kim Carswell, both 48, sat in one corner playing a game of dominoes with their 15-year-old daughter to pass the time. The couple, Tampa residents and lifelong Floridians, are accustomed to hurricanes and have stayed put for most storms.

But this time was different, they said. The family evacuated along with Trey’s mother and two of her friends, as well as a Labrador and a poodle.

“After Helene, and seeing all our friends lose a lot from the storm surge, we just decided it was best to pack up and be safe,” Kim said.

Florida hunkers down

Tampa International Airport, St Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Orlando International Airport said they would temporarily close. More than 1900 flights within, into, or out of the US were cancelled Wednesday, and 2100 were cancelled for Thursday, according to FlightAware.

Tourist attractions such as Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Tampa’s Busch Gardens and Orlando’s SeaWorld said they would close ahead of the storm.

Waffle House, whose tally of restaurant closures is often considered an informal bellwether of the severity of a storm, said on X Wednesday that it has closed dozens of locations in the Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando areas, as well as some on the state’s east coast.

Mr Biden, addressing the country from the White House on Wednesday, told Floridians to take Milton seriously. “No one should be confused, it’s still expected to be one of the most, and worst, destructive hurricanes to hit Florida in over a century,” Mr Biden said.

“Milton still carries incredible destructiveness, could wipe out communities and cause loss of life,” he said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has more than 1000 people in Florida who were responding to Hurricane Helene and are ready to respond to Milton, as well as 1200 staff preparing for search and rescue operations, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a call with reporters Wednesday.

St Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch on Wednesday warned residents that they should be prepared for significant outages, as well as for water, sewer and electrical services to be offline for an extended time.

“Because of the sustained hurricane-force winds, we are expecting extensive damage to our infrastructure, including widespread power outages that may not be restored for days or for weeks,” he said.

The governor said that more than 50,000 linemen were in the state to help restore power after the storm. Some came from as far as California, he said.

“It’s not just about where it makes landfall,” Mr DeSantis said.

The forecasts are especially precarious for those living in areas still recovering from Hurricane Helene. That hurricane dumped more than two metres of storm surge along Tampa Bay’s coastline. Milton is poised to bring double that amount to the same area.

In St Petersburg, piles of waterlogged furniture and tree limbs still line many streets. Florida officials said they have been working to clear debris from Helene to avoid it becoming projectiles in Milton’s wind.

Dow Jones/AFP