Hurricane Milton live updates: Interactive map shows ferocious 120mph storm as it barrels through Florida and heads into the Atlantic
Hurricane Milton continues to rage through Florida, leaving a trail of death and destruction as it heads toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Entire streets are flooded, homes destroyed and millions of people without power as search and rescue teams battle the elements to rescue victims.
Although it appears Milton will return to sea, the land will continue to produce hurricane winds and once-in-a-thousand-year rainfall.
Casualties were first reported before Milton made landfall overnight, with 120 mph winds and tornadoes as the eye crashed into Siesta Key.
Weather modeling company Ventusky shows Hurricane Milton’s devastating path through Florida below.
Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, heavy rain and tornadoes to much of the Gulf Coast, including communities already hit by deadly Hurricane Helene.
Early this morning, Milton moved off the east coast of Florida as a Category 1 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
It was expected that Milton would continue to move away from the peninsula and into the northern Bahamas.
Tornadoes touched down across the state before the storm made landfall. Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic coast, was particularly hard hit, with homes destroyed.
Some residents were killed, St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, although he would not say how many.
At least five people are hospitalized in Palm Beach as tornadoes hit land.
The hurricane made landfall near Siesta Key, a barrier island with white-sand beaches south of the Tampa Bay region and home to more than 3.3 million people.
Millions of people were ordered to evacuate. President Joe Biden, who postponed a trip abroad so he could stay at the White House to monitor Milton, said it could be “one of the worst storms to hit Florida in 100 years.”
Satellite photo of Hurricane Milton barreling toward the west coast of Florida
A vehicle becomes stranded on a water-logged street after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Brandon, Florida, on October 9, 2024. Milton made landfall in Florida on October 9, 2024
Residents of St. Petersburg were also unable to get water from their household taps as a water main break forced the city to shut off the water supply.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office later announced that all points of entry in and out of the county, including St. Petersburg, would be closed due to the conditions.
About 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane made landfall, many of them mobile homes in senior living communities, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
About 90 minutes after making landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm.
Early Thursday, the hurricane was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 80 mph (130 km/h) as it moved offshore and was about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Orlando.
Milton could lead to $60 billion in losses for the global insurance industry, according to a report from analysts at RBC Capital.
This billion-dollar loss in payouts would be comparable to the loss after Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida in 2022.
According to an insurance report from the Swiss Re Institute, Ian had the second largest insured hurricane loss, behind 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which took the top spot due to its devastation.
Barclays analysts estimated this week that insured losses from the hurricane could exceed $50 billion.
A boat is stranded on a road after Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 10
Emergency crews arrive on scene near Siesta Key, hit hard by the storms
Storm debris left in Sarasota in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, October 10
But these numbers will be felt most viscerally on the ground, as entire communities wade through the devastation left by Milton’s floods and deadly winds.
The mayor of Sarasota, Florida, Liz Alpert, told reporters that her coastal city just south of Tampa Bay was as prepared as we could be yesterday.
“But this is going to be a very, very bad storm,” she told MSNBC.
‘Emotionally, people just went through that [Hurricane Helene] two weeks ago, and now here we are again,” Alpert said, “It’s really hard for everyone.”
Florida residents seeking assistance are urged to call the State Assistance Information Line (SAIL) at 1-800-342-3557 and/or the FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-3362.