Hurricane Milton crosses central Florida, in the United States, on Thursday after making landfall a few hours earlier on the west coast of the state, where it caused deadly tornadoes, destroyed homes and left some 3 million homes without electricity, although it avoided impact direct in Tampa.
The meteor turned south in the last few hours and made landfall Wednesday night in Siesta Key, near Sarasota and 112 km (about 70 miles) south of Tampa as a Category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour, as reported by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).
About 90 minutes after landfall, Milton weakened to a Category 2 hurricane. Early Thursday, wind speeds dropped to about 90 mph (150 km/h), making Milton a Category 2 hurricane. 1, with heavy rain and damaging storm surge. The storm was about 45 miles (75 km) west-southwest of Cape Canaveral, home of NASA’s Space Force Station.
According to the NHC, a flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa Bay area, including the cities of Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, which recorded 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of possible flash flooding both there and in other parts of the western and central part of the state.
Tropicana Field, the stadium of the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, located in St. Petersburg, suffered serious damage. The canvas that serves as a dome on the building was left in tatters by the powerful winds. The meteor also knocked down several cranes, according to the meteorological service.
Residents in the city were left without running water after a burst water main forced authorities to cut service.
The passage of the meteor cut off the power supply in much of the state and in the early hours of Thursday there were more than 3 million homes and businesses without power, according to poweroutage.us, which monitors blackouts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said he hoped Tampa Bay, expected to be the target of the hurricane, would ultimately not suffer major damage and avoid the worst of the forecast storm surge if the storm came ashore ahead of high tide. . Forecasters said sea levels could still rise by up to 4 metres.
DeSantis reported that Milton had also spawned at least 19 tornadoes that caused damage in numerous counties, destroying about 125 homes.
“At this point, it is too dangerous to evacuate, so you have to shelter in place and nothing more than protect yourself,” DeSantis said when announcing the landfall.
At least two deaths were reported in a senior community after a possible tornado in Fort Pierce, on the east coast of Florida, according to NBC News, which bases its information on statements by St. Lucie County Commissioner Keith Pearson.
According to this same medium, Pearson estimates that 100 homes were destroyed in the county, where about 17 tornadoes touched down.
Heavy downpours could cause flooding inland near rivers and lakes as the hurricane crosses the Florida peninsula to exit into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. It is expected to impact the Orlando area, where there is a high population density.
Milton is hitting a part of Florida that is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which flooded streets and homes in western Florida and claimed the lives of at least 230 people throughout the south. In many coastal areas, municipal authorities rushed to remove and dispose of debris before the winds and surge of the new storm could carry it away and worsen the damage.
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