Hurricane Milton causes widespread flooding, over 3 million without power in Florida
Hurricane Milton, considered one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever, has passed through Florida, causing widespread flooding and leaving over 3 million people without electricity.
After making landfall at Siesta Key as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday evening, Milton is now tracking away from Florida, according to The Weather Channel, with conditions expected to improve on Thursday.
High winds continue to impact Florida's Atlantic coast, with winds gusting up to 92 miles per hour in Marineland, 87 miles per hour in Daytona Beach and 76 miles per hour at South Hutchinson Island.
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The storm brought heavy rainfall, with St. Petersburg, Florida, reporting over five inches of rain in only one hour, while parts of Tampa and St. Petersburg received as much as 17 inches of rain.
Central Florida also received intense winds as a result of Milton reaching up to 105 miles per hour in Egmont Channel, 102 miles per hour in Sarasota, 101 miles per hour in St. Petersburg and 93 miles per hour in Tampa. Orlando International Airport recorded a wind gust to 86 miles per hour, according to The Weather Channel.
The resulting devastation has left more than 3.3 million homes and businesses without power as of Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
The power outages include over 247,000 outages in Sarasota County, more than 172,000 outages in Manatee County and around 272,000 in Hillsborough County, USA Today reports. More than 380,000 businesses and homes are said to be in the dark as well.
"As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida's west coast, Duke Energy Florida is urging its customers to prepare for this catastrophic storm and a lengthy power restoration process that will result in extended outages," stated Duke Energy, which provides electricity to 8.4 million customers in Florida and elsewhere, as quoted by USA Today.
Duke Energy said on Monday that they were mobilizing around 10,000 responders to prepare for the high number of outages, while Florida Power and Light Company, FPL, gathered a workforce of 14,500 people to respond to outages.
"Based on the current track, Hurricane Milton will impact the most populated areas of our service territory," said Todd Fountain, Duke Energy Florida's storm director, as quoted by USA Today.
"Despite extensive system improvements and rigorous tree trimming, the strong winds and flooding will cause power outages. Customers should expect significant damage and make immediate preparations for extended power outage durations."
Of the many buildings and structures impacted by the storm, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home to the Tampa Bay Rays, which served as a gathering place for responders, had portions of its roof blown off by the hurricane.
An unnamed Tropicana Field spokesperson told FOX 13 News that "no first responders were being staged at the Trop and the essential personnel that were there are all accounted for and safe."
