Hurricane Milton lands near Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Milton has made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key in Sarasota County. Milton is bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surge and flooding Wednesday along much of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

• ‘Going to be a knockout’: Tornado crosses major Florida highway as Hurricane Milton approaches
• ‘Extremely dangerous’: What to know about Hurricane Milton as it barrels toward Florida’s coast

The cyclone roared ashore near Siesta Key in Sarasota County, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. The storm was bringing deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

Milton slammed into a Florida region still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which caused heavy damage to beach communities with storm surge and killed a dozen people in seaside Pinellas County alone.

More than 1.6 million power customers in Florida were left in the dark Wednesday night as Hurricane Milton battered the state with tornadoes, flooding and strong winds.

Counties along the western coast of the peninsula were hardest hit, particularly in the central portion of the state. Nearly all of the roughly 9,600 Peace River Electric Coop customers in Hardee County were without power shortly after 10 p.m., according to the website PowerOutage.us.

Outage numbers were climbing throughout the evening but still have not yet reached the totals seen when Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022. That storm affected more than 4.45 million power customers over several days in four states, according to PowerOutage.us, impacting more than 9.6 million people in all.

About 90 minutes after making landfall Wednesday night, Milton was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Sarasota, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported. It was moving east-northeast at 16 mph (26 kph).

The storm had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph).

The storm was no less dangerous, however; the National Weather Service also issued a rare flash flood emergency statement for the Tampa Bay area, including the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

The emergency announcement means the weather service believes extremely heavy rain is leading to a severe threat to human live and that catastrophic damage from a flash flood is either already happening or will happen soon. They are typically made when emergency officials report life-threatening water level rises resulting in rescues or evacuations.

“This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. “Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.”

Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and plowing across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday.

Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull’s-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

Residents should not feel relief because of indications Milton might come ashore south of Tampa, Perkins said: “Everybody in Tampa Bay should assume we are going to be ground zero.”

Milton threatened communitiesstill reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage.

With the storm weaker but growing in size, the surge was projected to reach as high as 12 feet (3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and up to 13 feet (4 meters) farther south, between Sarasota and Fort Myers.

Mary Ann Fairman, 84, was among roughly 1,000 people at a shelter in West Bradenton. She stayed home during Helene but packed up blankets, snacks and toiletries and left this time.

“The Gulf is practically in our backyard,” she said.

In Pasco County, home to over half a million people in bedroom communities for Tampa and St. Petersburg, officials said shortly before noon that they were getting ready to take buses off the road.

“This is your last chance if you need to get to a shelter,” they said in a statement. “After that, you’ll need to find a way to the shelter or be prepared to ride out the storm.”

The famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans the mouth of Tampa Bay, closed around midday. Other major bridges also closed.

“Yesterday I said the clock was ticking. Today I’m saying the alarm bell is really going off. People need to get to their safe place,” said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service.

At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort gasoline tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating.

“Unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around that,” DeSantis said.

Milton was centered about 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Tampa on Wednesday afternoon and had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (209 kph), the hurricane center reported. It was moving northeast at 16 mph (26 kph).

Heavy rain and tornadoes lashed parts of southern Florida starting Wednesday morning, with conditions deteriorating. Six to 12 inches (15 to 31 centimeters) of rain, with up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) in some places, was expected well inland, bringing the risk of catastrophic flooding.

One tornado touched down Wednesday morning in the lightly populated Everglades and crossed Interstate 75. Another apparent tornado touched down in Fort Myers, snapping tree limbs and tearing a gas station’s canopy to shreds.

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 11 Florida counties with a population of about 5.9 million people. Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, with first responders not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch told residents Wednesday to expect long power outages and the possible shutdown of its sewer system.

“We have a long road ahead of us, but we will recover and we will rebuild,” Welch said. “But for the next several hours, our focus is to keep everyone safe, and we can do that.”

In Charlotte Harbor, and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Tampa, clouds swirled and winds gusted as Josh Parks packed his Kia sedan with clothes and other belongings. Two weeks ago, Helene’s surge brought about 5 feet of water to the neighborhood, and its streets remain filled with waterlogged furniture, torn-out drywall and other debris.

Parks, an auto technician, planned to flee to his daughter’s home inland and said his roommate already left.

“I told her to pack like you aren’t coming back,” he said.

In the Tampa Bay area’s Gulfport, Christian Burke and his mother stayed put in their three-story concrete home overlooking the bay. Burke said his father designed this home with a Category 5 in mind — and now they’re going to test it.

As a passing police vehicle blared encouragement to evacuate, Burke acknowledged staying isn’t a good idea but said he’s “not laughing at this storm one bit” — he just believes the house his father built will withstand it.

Some 1,700 people hunkered down at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, including Trokon Nagbe and his husband, Morris Kulp. They slept on the floor because they didn’t bring their own cots.

“It’s not the Hilton or the Marriott,” Kulp said, “but it sure is appreciated.”

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