MIAMI — Hurricane Milton has made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surges and potential flooding to much of the state.
Milton drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, twice reaching Category 5 status.
The cyclone roared ashore with maximum sustained winds of 120mph near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said.
More than two million homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night in Florida, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
The highest number of outages were in Sarasota County — where the storm made landfall — and in neighboring Manatee County.
Heavy rains are also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, officials issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival.
“This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. “Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.”
By late afternoon, some officials said the time had passed for such efforts. By the evening, some counties announced they has suspended emergency services.
“Unless you really have a good reason to leave at this point, we suggest you just hunker down,” Polk County Emergency Management Director Paul Womble said in a public update.
Multiple tornadoes spawned by the hurricane tore across Florida, the twisters acting as a dangerous harbingers of Milton’s approach.
Videos posted to social media sites showed large funnel clouds over neighbourhoods in Palm Beach County and elsewhere in the state.
Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday evening.
It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and barrelling across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday.
Tampa Bay has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.
