Florida evacuated as another category 5 hurricane made landfall; some braced for impact and some fled the state.
As Florida is recovering from Hurricane Helene, another hurricane with winds of 155 mph has made its way to the state of Florida. Hurricane Milton hit the West Coast of Florida by Wednesday night, October 9th, 2024.
On the night of October 7th, going into the morning of October 8th, Hurricane Milton’s structure changed overnight. Reported by forecasters at the National Hurricane Center, the storm weakened overnight and had slowed down to a strong category 4 hurricane. Forecasters note that Milton will turn into a powerful category 3 hurricane as soon as it makes landfall on Florida, which happened this morning.
The Hurricane Center warned citizens of Tampa, Florida that the storm surge could reach 10 to 15 feet above ground level on Thursday October 10th, 2024.
Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis announced this week “Evacuations are underway, and we have suspended tolls and opened roadway shoulders to make it easier for Floridians to get to safety… Hundreds of first responders will be embedded in potential impact sites along Florida’s West Coast to begin search and rescue operations as soon as the storm passes.”
On October 10th, 2024, Hurricane Milton made landfall as a category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key at 8:30 p.m. according to the National Hurricane Center. More than 3.2 million people are without power currently.
Fox News tells us that more than 10 inches of rain has fallen in many parts in Florida, and 18 inches of rain has been recorded over the past 24 hours.
Several tornadoes were caused by Hurricane Milton in Southern and Central Florida on Wednesday night, the 9th of October. There have been at least several dozens of tornadoes reported but the exact number is not known for sure, claims the National Weather Service.
As previously stated, forecasters predicted that the storm surge would reach 10 to 15 feet above ground levels; water levels rose about 8+ feet near Sarasota Wednesday night and a storm surge of 3-6 feet was reported along the West Coast of Florida.
Hurricane Milton has not yet passed Florida, people are still taking shelter and trying to stay clear of this deadly storm.