The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Milton, which reached land as a powerful Category 3 storm near Siesta Key on Florida’s central west coast on Wednesday night, has weakened in the hours since. Siesta Key is a barrier island just south of Sarasota. At landfall, Milton had sustained winds of 120 mph. As it moved inland, however, the storm weakened.
The National Hurricane Center called for Tampa and St. Petersburg to shelter in place as dangerous winds began affecting the regions. Though Milton weakened after losing the warm Gulf waters, it remained a hurricane. Forecasters predict it will continue moving across Florida. Until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean, where it will become a tropical storm.
By Wednesday morning, over 23% of Florida’s gas stations had run out of fuel. Around Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg, 59% of stations were out of fuel. These numbers had increased overnight, according to CBS News, citing GasBuddy.
In addition to high winds, the National Weather Service reported observing at least four tornadoes, including one “multi-vortex tornado.” This occurred as storm surge began affecting the southwestern Florida coast. Tornado warnings were issued for several cities, alongside hurricane. And storm surge warnings that were already in effect.
First, Milton was a catastrophic Category 5 storm with 180 mph winds. The sustained wind speeds in Milton were reduced before landfall. While the storm had weakened, it would likely cause serious damage and flooding across Florida.
But Jeff Masters, a former NOAA hurricane scientist, told CBS News some of the worst catastrophes in hurricane history involved weakening storms. He cited Hurricane Katrina, which inflicted $190 billion in damage even though it was a Category 3 storm at landfall. Milton, too, was once rated a Category 5 storm. “We’re gonna have unprecedented damage,” Masters said, “because of the storm surge up through Florida.”.
It issued hurricane warnings for the Florida west coast from Bonita Beach to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay. It also issued a hurricane warning for the east coast from the St. Lucie-Martin County line to Ponte Vedra Beach. The storm surge warnings covered a wide stretch of Florida’s coastline, including areas from Flamingo to Yankeetown, Charlotte Harbor, and Tampa Bay.
The National Weather Service warned that anyone in the storm surge warning area faced a very dangerous situation. They urged people to focus on evacuation. The Tampa Bay area’s storm surge was predicted to reach 8 to 12 feet above ground level. This prediction was slightly lower than the earlier forecast of surges up to 15 feet.
By Wednesday afternoon, forecasters expected the west coast of Florida, from Anna Maria Island to Boca Grande, including Sarasota, to experience storm surges between 9 and 13 feet. Florida officials underscored that even these revised, lower estimates were still well within the range of catastrophic.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued further warnings Wednesday that fatalities were likely because of the dangerous conditions in the storm. He has also warned that as terrible as the eye was going to be to Milton, the storm’s effects would be in storm surges. “There will be fatalities,” he said, noticing some of those who stayed behind would be in distress.
DeSantis said 149 shelters were opened across Florida and “nearly 200,000 people” could be accommodated. Officials warned people in areas under evacuation orders to go to a shelter now. Many residents, he said, had already taken precautions, boarding up windows, sandbagging homes, and relocating boats in preparation for the storm’s arrival.
With the storm looming, Florida officials called on all residents to be ready for power outages and have enough food and water to last at least a week.
ANI