What has been described as a weakening but still tremendously powerful Hurricane Milton slammed into Floridaโs west coast, leaving millions of homes without power, while also bringing โcatastrophicโ winds likely to cause significant property damage.
According to reports, the hurricane made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, just after 8.30pm ET, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said. The storm brought potentially deadly storm surge to much of Floridaโs Gulf coast, particularly Sarasota and Fort Myers, but largely spared more densely populated areas such as Tampa and St Petersburg to the north.
Despite losing some of its potency to wind shear as it neared the coast, Milton, which had churned in the Gulf of Mexico over the last two days as a category 5 storm, was still one of the strongest hurricanes to strike the US mainland in recent memory.
It was also the second direct hit on Florida in 12 days, after Hurricane Heleneโs deadly rampage through the stateโs panhandle towards Georgia and the Carolinas beginning on 27 September. Areas devastated by Helene received another pounding as Milton swept ashore with winds above 120mph.
Read also: Biden says Hurricane Milton caused staggering $50bn in estimated damage
On Wednesday night, a flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa Bay area including the cities of Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater, the hurricane center said, with St Petersburg already receiving 16.6in (42cm) of rain on Wednesday.
So large was its wind field that areas in south Florida, hundreds of miles from Miltonโs core, saw dozens of tornado warnings, and at least seven twisters on the ground. In Fort Myers, a tornado spawned in Miltonโs outer bands ripped the roof from a house.
With the storm coming ashore before high tide, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said he hoped the west coast of the state would avoid the worst predicted storm surge. Forecasters said seawater could rise as high as 13ft (four metres), but on Thursday DeSantis said the worst affected county, Sarasota, saw 8-10ft.
The tornadoes caused damage in numerous counties, and destroyed about 125 homes, most of them mobile homes, DeSantis said.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
