Hurricane Milton made landfall over the central west coast of Florida on Wednesday evening, bringing with it powerful winds, torrential rain, and storm surge to a state that endured another strong hurricane less than two weeks ago.
The National Hurricane Center announced that doppler radar data indicated the storm’s eye made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key in Sarasota County — located between Tampa Bay and Fort Myers — at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The hurricane‘s outer bands already wreaked havoc across Florida earlier in the day with tornadoes, flooding, and power outages. Residents in Florida and nearby states can expect the effects of the storm to last overnight and into Thursday.
Evacuation orders had been issued to millions of people across several Florida counties, and shelters were opened in areas bracing for the brunt of the hurricane. Storm surge up to 12 or 13 feet in some coastal areas could be particularly deadly.
After landfall, Hurricane Milton is expected to quickly move across the Florida Peninsula on Thursday and head out over the Atlantic Ocean away from the United States, giving room for any rescue and relief efforts to get underway.
Florida got slammed by Milton less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Crews were still picking up debris from Helene on Wednesday, prompting warnings about detritus flying around when Milton hit.
Milton made landfall as a “major” hurricane, but it was higher up the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale at Category 5 at times earlier in the week as it swept across the Gulf of Mexico and grazed Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency, suspended tolls to assist with evacuations, communicated with the public about what they should do to be ready for the storm, and made other preparations.
President Joe Biden, who approved an emergency declaration to unlock federal assistance for hurricane response efforts in Florida, has been in communication with DeSantis and said he told the governor he was “doing a great job.”
Stunning images of Hurricane Milton have been shared online over the past few days, including from NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, who is on the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavor docked to the International Space Station.
The Waffle House Index, which is used to signal an imminent disaster, helped keep residents alert. In a post to X, Waffle House said it was closing restaurant locations around Tampa, Fort Myers, Orlando, Ocala, and Daytona in the afternoon on Wednesday.
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