ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) – Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida's west coast on Wednesday, whipping up deadly tornadoes, destroying homes and provoking flash floods and power outages as it began its eastward march across the state.
The storm made landfall around 8:30 pm EDT (0030 GMT) as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour (195 kph) near Siesta Key, the US National Hurricane Center said.
By 11 pm EDT (0300 GMT), wind speeds had reduced to 105 mph (165 kph), dropping Milton to a Category 2 hurricane, nonetheless still considered extremely dangerous. The eye of the storm was 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Orlando in the center of the state.
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 16.6 inches (422 mm) of rain on Wednesday.
The eye of the storm came ashore in Siesta Key, a barrier island town of some 5,400 off Sarasota about 60 miles (100 km) south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, which is home to more than 3 million people.
With the storm coming ashore before high tide, Governor Ron DeSantis said he hoped the west coast of Florida could avoid the worst of the predicted storm surge. Forecasters said seawater could rise as high as 13 feet (4 meters).
DeSantis also expressed hope that Tampa Bay, once seen as the potential bull's eye, could avoid major damage and allow shipping to resume promptly after the storm passes.
Even so, Milton had already spawned at least 19 tornadoes. Multiple fatalities were reported at a retirement community following a suspected tornado in Fort Pierce on the eastern coast of Florida, ABC News reported, citing St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson. His department did not immediately respond to a request for details.
The tornadoes caused damage in numerous counties, and destroyed around 125 homes, most of them mobile homes, DeSantis said.
More than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Florida were without power.
"At this point, it's too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down," DeSantis said upon announcing the landfall.
The storm was expected to cross the Florida peninsula overnight and emerge into the Atlantic, still with hurricane force, on Thursday.
Once past Florida, it should weaken over the western Atlantic, possibly dropping below hurricane strength on Thursday night, but will nonetheless pose storm-surge danger on the state's Atlantic coast as well.
Tropical storm force winds were engulfing much of the state. At sea, the hurricane created waves close to 28 feet (8.5 meters) high, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
In a state already battered by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people were ordered to evacuate, and millions more live in the projected path of the storm.
Much of the southern US experienced the deadly force of Hurricane Helene as it cut a swath of devastation through Florida and several other states. Both storms are expected to cause billions of dollars in damage.
ZOO ANIMALS PROTECTED
While human evacuees jammed the highways and created gasoline shortages, animals including African elephants, Caribbean flamingos and pygmy hippos were riding out the storm at Tampa’s zoo.
Nearly a quarter of Florida's gasoline stations were out of fuel on Wednesday afternoon.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had moved millions of liters (gallons) of water, millions of meals and other supplies and personnel into the area. None of the additional aid will detract from recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, the agency's administrator, Deanne Criswell, said earlier on Wednesday.
Trucks have been running 24 hours a day to clear mounds of debris left behind by Helene before Milton potentially turned them into dangerous projectiles, DeSantis said.
About 9,000 National Guard personnel were deployed in Florida, ready to assist recovery efforts, as were 50,000 electricity grid workers in anticipating of widespread power outages, DeSantis said.
Search-and-rescue teams were prepared to head out as soon as the storm passes, working through the night if needed, DeSantis said.
"It's going to mean pretty much all the rescues are going to be done in the dark, in the middle of the night, but that's fine. They're going to do that," DeSantis said.
Nineteen hospitals were evacuated, the Florida Hospital Association said. Mobile homes, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities faced mandatory evacuation.
Milton became the third-fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic, growing from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in less than 24 hours.