Hurricane Milton makes landfall near Siesta Key Florida

By Mary Hui and Brian K Sullivan

Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida’s west coast near Tampa with tree-snapping winds and heavy rain, pushing a wall of water onshore and putting lives at risk in the densely populated region.

Milton came ashore near Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane and is now packing winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Center. A flash flood emergency is in effect for the Tampa Bay area as the storm moves inland and toward Florida’s east coast.

The hurricane shredded the roof of Tropicana Field, a domed stadium in St. Petersburg and the home of Major League Baseball team, Tampa Bay Rays, ABC reported. The storm has also knocked out power for more than 2 million homes and businesses in Florida, according to PowerOutage.us.

Milton came ashore south of where Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 230 people, struck Florida’s west coast two weeks ago. The US mainland has been hit by five hurricanes so far this year, including Beryl, which battered Houston in July and knocked out power to millions of homes and businesses.

Tampa Bay could see a storm surge of as much as five feet (1.5 meters), while Anna Maria Island could see 13 feet of water, according to an advisory from the hurricane center at 11 p.m. New York time. Milton could also bring as much as 18 inches of rain on some areas, the agency said.

“This rainfall will continue to bring the risk of catastrophic and life-threatening flash and urban flooding, along with moderate to major river flooding,” Richard Pasch, a meteorologist at the hurricane center, said in the notice.

President Joe Biden was briefed by Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and US Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, Deanne Criswell, on the initial impacts of the hurricane on the Florida Peninsula, according to a statement from the White House.

Milton’s top winds have slowed but the storm has grown considerably in size. Tropical storm-force winds now extend outward up to 255 miles, nearly double the 140 miles from just 24 hours earlier, the hurricane center said.

Milton is expected to cause damages and losses in a range from $60 billion to $75 billion, a “major catastrophe” for the region, Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler for Enki Research, said before the storm made landfall.

Even as far south as Naples Bay, over 100 miles from where Milton made landfall, major flooding was recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Melissa Seixas, president of Duke Energy Florida, said Milton “is our worst fears come true.” The company just replaced hundreds of transformers destroyed by Helene two weeks ago, and that equipment is now vulnerable again. “We had about 24 hours between the final restoration of Helene and preparing for this storm,” she said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a Wednesday briefing that the state has more than 50,000 linemen on standby, ready to start power restoration as soon as it’s safe. President Joe Biden said the federal government stood ready to deploy military personnel to aid recovery efforts.

Florida’s agricultural sector also faces widespread disruptions. Tampa-based fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. idled its Florida operations ahead of Milton’s landfall. Hurricane Helene last month led to a roughly 10-day curtailment of operations, while Hurricane Francine in mid-September hurt the company’s phosphate production volumes and shipments, according to Mosaic.