Key events
Extreme rains and wind have reached Tampa as Hurricane Milton makes landfall just south of the city. St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted Airport has reported a wind gust of 90mph, and more than 6 inches of rain has already fallen in Tampa. The Weather Prediction Center expects as much as 2 to 3 inches of rain to continue falling each hour tonight as the storm comes ashore.
Governor says ‘at this point, too dangerous to evacuate safely’
Florida governor Ron DeSantis delivered updates on Hurricane Milton as the storm begins to make landfall south of Tampa.
“There’s already been 116 tornado warnings, with 19 confirmed touchdowns throughout the state, nine flash flood warnings and four additional flood watches, with many, many more to come,” he said.
Addressing fuel shortages – more than 60% of gas stations in Tampa and St Petersburg were without fuel on Wednesday afternoon, according to analysts at GasBuddy – he added: “When the ports reopen, Florida Highway Patrol will be standing by to escort fuel trucks to service stations so that people will have access to fuel as they return to their homes.
“At this point, it is too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to hunker down,” he said.
Nearly 100 tornado warnings issued ahead of Hurricane Milton landfall
The National Weather Service issued at least 98 tornado warnings in the state of Florida between noon and 6pm ET Wednesday as Hurricane Milton prepared to make landfall on the state’s western coast. The service reported sightings of at least 20 tornados, the Washington Post reports.
Meanwhile, major flooding is under way across the state, including in Naples and Fort Myers, where the storm surge has pushed water levels above 3ft.
As Hurricane Milton begins making landfall, storm chaser and meteorologist Reed Timmer, who has been tracking the storm, has shared footage from just south of Tampa. Wind gusts above hurricane-force (74mph or higher) have been reported along the coast, including a 90mph wind gust at Sarasota Bradenton international airport, according to CNN.
More than 311,000 clients in Florida are without power as Hurricane Milton starts to make landfall near Tampa, according to Poweroutage.us. The site tracks a total of 11.5m users in the state. The majority experiencing outages are located along the state’s Gulf Coast.
Florida prepares for Hurricane Milton to make landfall as state pummeled by winds
Florida is bracing for imminent landfall of Hurricane Milton, with winds along the west coast of the state continuing to increase as the center of the storm bears down on Sarasota.
A sustained wind of 58mph and a gust of 77mph were reported near Tampa Bay, according to the National Hurricane Center.
CNN reported that storm surge is ramping up in south-west Florida: Naples is under nearly 3ft of water. Fort Myers saw nearly 2ft of inundation over normally dry ground by 5pm ET.
