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Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Siesta Key area of Florida on Wednesday night (October 9). The Category 3 storm had central sustained winds of 120 mph (about 193 km/h). However, the impact of the storm caused widespread destruction even before it reached the coast.
According to the National Hurricane Center, this is the fifth hurricane to hit the United States in 2024, more than the last 3 years combined. News from The Guardian.
About 125 homes, mostly mobile homes, were destroyed before the storm hit, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. They were mainly in areas where senior citizens lived.
More than 1.5 million Florida homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night, according to poweroutage.us. Hardy County and surrounding Sarasota and Manatee counties have the highest rate of outages.
On Tuesday night, the storm was located 20 miles northeast of Sarasota, Florida, and weakened to a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph). The hurricane, moving east-northeast at 16 mph (about 26 km), brought heavy rain and flooding to Tampa and surrounding areas.
Albert Whited Airport in St. Petersburg recorded 16.61 inches of rain as of Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport reported wind gusts of 69 mph (111 kph) and gusts of 102 mph (165 kph).
The National Weather Center issued a flash flood warning Wednesday night for the Tampa Bay area, specifically for the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
As of the latest update at 10 pm (local time) on Tuesday, the storm had a central pressure of 958 millibars and was moving east-northeast. The storm is still strong and damage is likely in more inland areas of Florida.
The Guardian
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