Posted on 10/09/24
| News Source: WSJ
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida Wednesday, bringing hurricane-force winds, life-threatening storm surge and heavy rain to a region that was pummeled by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.
The storm hit near Siesta Key, Fla., in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m. E.T. as a Category 3 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.
Before making landfall, Milton hammered Florida with several inches of rain, heavy winds, storm surge and tornadoes. The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued Florida a record number of tornado warnings, which indicate a twister has been spotted or detected by radar. The storm is likely to exacerbate the devastation wrought by Helene, which tore a path of death and destruction across several states in late September.
Millions were urged to evacuate ahead of the storm. Some faced traffic jams and found gas stations without fuel when they tried to flee. By Wednesday night, officials were urging residents to shelter-in-place.
“The storm is here,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “It’s time for everybody to hunker down.”
More than 500,000 customers in Florida were without power as of 8 p.m. Wednesday night, according to Poweroutage.us.