Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida, several deaths from tornadoes

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida, around 2:30 am Dutch time. Wind speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour have been measured there. More than a million and a half homes and businesses are without power.

Nineteen tornadoes have formed in the past few hours, Governor DeSantis said. A tornado killed several people in Fort Pierce, although it is not yet clear how many. Authorities say search and rescue efforts are ongoing. Statewide, about 125 homes, most of them mobile homes, were destroyed before Milton made landfall.

Milton was a Category 5 hurricane earlier this week, but had weakened to a Category 3 storm by the time it made landfall. There are still fears that this will cause significant damage. President Biden said last night that Milton could be the strongest storm of this century.

Here’s what the situation was like late last night in Florida:

Milton is expected to pass through the major cities of Tampa and Orlando in the next few hours. There is a great fear of flooding due to rising water levels. Flood warnings were issued for nearly 2 million people in areas including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

Up to 46 centimeters of rain could fall in some places. That is about half of the precipitation in the Netherlands in a whole year.

During the night, the Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium in St. Petersburg was damaged. The roof of Tropicana Field blew apart. It is not yet clear what the situation is in the stadium now.

Although mass and emergency evacuation calls were made early this week, the advice to the residents of the state is now to stay where they are. It is too dangerous to seek shelter elsewhere now, according to the emergency services. More than 70,000 people have sought shelter, according to the federal disaster management agency.

Florida and the surrounding states are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which hit the area just two weeks ago. It claimed the lives of at least 230 people.