Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida, kicking off coastal flooding and tornados

Update: An 8 p.m. Hurricane Milton update from the National Hurricane Center indicated the storm was “close to making landfall along the coast of west-central Florida.” At that time, its maximum sustained winds were 120 mph. 

The landfall is anticipated earlier than previously projected. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the earlier arrival and lower tide will mitigate storm surge, although the surge will remain life-threatening. 

Peak storm surge is expected at the Charlotte and Lee County line to Anna Maria Island in Manatee County, the governor said. That storm surge is expected to be 9-13 feet. 

The storm produced tornadoes across the state Wednesday. The governor reported 116 tornadoes with 19 confirmed touchdowns as of a Wednesday evening news conference. No deaths had been reported at the time of the news conference, although the governor said he could not rule out fatalities. 

More tornadoes were expected through Wednesday night, according to a National Hurricane Center forecast. 

One tornado ripped through Palm Beach County. 

**DAMAGING LARGE TORNADO HAS NOW MOVED OUT OF PALM BEACH COUNTY** https://t.co/FREOCiToVH

— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) October 9, 2024

As of the news conference, Director of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie said “really, really rough numbers” suggest that 125 homes had been destroyed as of Wednesday evening. Most of those were mobile homes, he said. 

Guthrie said to listen to local authorities for when it is safe to leave a shelter or return home. 

DeSantis said search and rescue attempts will begin overnight as soon as it is safe. 

The number of customers without power quickly climbed Wednesday evening as the storm hit. As of this update, more than 600,000 customers were without power before the storm made landfall. 

DeSantis and Guthrie previously said they would request a waiver from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to more easily recruit debris haulers. Wednesday, they said the state is still exploring options through FEMA and mutual aid from other states to remove debris as quickly as possible. 

“We don’t know what might happen the next 10 to 15 days. We want to get some of this debris picked up again,” Guthrie said.

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Update: Travel conditions have worsened and time to evacuate has mostly run out in areas Hurricane Milton will hit hardest along Florida’s west coast. 

The National Hurricane Center update at 2 p.m. indicated Milton is “growing in size as it moves closer to the west coast of Florida.” 

The center warns the storm will bring life-threatening storm surge, winds, and flooding in central and southwest Florida. 

Maximum sustained winds were 130 mph on Wednesday afternoon, a Category 4. 

Tropical storm winds extend up to 250 miles from the center of the storm and hurricane-force winds extend up to 35 miles from the center, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

Peak storm surge at the anticipated area of landfall was forecast at 9-13 feet Wednesday afternoon. 

During a Wednesday afternoon news conference in Lake City, Gov. DeSantis reminded Floridians on the east coast that damage from winds and storm surge remain a concern for them, too. 

“Just because the storm is going in on the west coast, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be limited to that. It is going to barrel across the state. You will likely have power outages from the west coast, all the way to the east coast in various parts. You will have some surge on the east coast of Florida, may not be as much as what you get on the west, but I think you’ll see some.”

DeSantis reminded east coast Floridians to take evacuation orders seriously.

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As weather conditions deteriorated Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast, state officials braced for Hurricane Milton, staging resources and encouraging residents of evacuation zones to head to public shelters. 

The National Hurricane Center advised at 11 p.m. Wednesday that the time to prepare and evacuate was “quickly coming to an end.”

Milton’s landfall was expected Wednesday night, although tornadic supercells began to hit the Florida peninsula Wednesday morning, the center reported. Multiple tornados were reported.

Storm surge of 10-15 feet was expected in the landfall area, with at least 1-3 feet across the entire west coast of Florida. The storm was producing maximum sustained winds of 145 mph Wednesday morning, keeping it at Category 4. 

Local shelters had room, still, according to Director of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie. 

“If you’re making a decision and you say, ‘Oh, it’s too late, there’s not enough room for me.’ There is room. Please come,” Guthrie said during a Wednesday morning news conference. 

State government has opened shelters in addition to local facilities, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced. Both can be found on the Florida Division of Emergency Management website. The state shelters are larger in size. These non-school locations have generators and hosting there will enable schools, which also serve as shelters, to reopen to students after the storm more quickly, officials said. 

Additional resources, including lists of evacuation orders, state assistance, and more can be found on the website, too.

Bridges and causeways in the area of anticipated landfall were to close in the early afternoon Wednesday, and emergency shoulder use on interstates was to end at noon. Traffic information, including road closures, can be found on FL511.  

Staging

Milton has prompted the largest state preparation effort in more than one metric, according to DeSantis. 

The state has deployed 6,000 Florida National Guardsmen, as well as 3,000 from other states. 

“This is the largest Florida National Guard search and rescue mobilization in the entire history of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. 

Approximately 50,000 power line workers will be in Florida by the time the storm hits, from as far as California, the governor said.  In total, 20 states are assisting Florida, according to DeSantis. 

In preparation for Hurricane Milton, landfills were required to stay open 24/7 to dispose of as much debris as possible from Hurricane Helene, which struck Florida two weeks ago. 

As of Wednesday morning, the all-out effort to remove debris had stopped. DeSantis said that crews removed about 50% of debris from Hurricane Helene — 3,000 truckloads carrying nearly 55,000 cubic yards of debris. 

With the second major hurricane in two weeks, DeSantis thanked the people who have prepared and responded to the storms. 

“There’s no better group of people that I would want responding to this than the folks that we have doing it throughout this state,” DeSantis said.

“Whether you’re talking about the counties down on the Gulf Coast of Florida, whether you’re talking about the people that we have here assembled in Tallahassee, these folks have proven themselves. They’re working hard, and we will get the job done.“