Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surge and potential flooding to much of the state.
Milton drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, twice reaching Category 5 status in its run up to making landfall.
The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 205 km/h as it roared ashore near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The Tampa Bay area has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century, but the storm was still bringing a potentially deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including the cities of 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. It was expected to eventually emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.
Milton slammed into a Florida region still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which caused heavy damage to beach communities with storm surge and killed a dozen people in seaside Pinellas County alone.
Earlier, officials issued dire warnings for people to flee or face grim odds of survival.
More to come