Tracking Hurricane Milton | Scenes and aftermath from the massive storm that hammered Florida

Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Wednesday to a Category 3 after briefly regaining strength to a Category 5 storm Tuesday afternoon, making landfall near Siesta Key Wednesday night.

Milton brought powerful winds and a deadly storm surge near Sarasota County. The cyclone had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph as it hit the coast of Florida.

As Milton moves across the state, flash flood warnings have been issued in central Florida.

The National Weather Service is recommending that residents stay put and not drive as devastating rain and wind pushes through Florida. According to the National Hurricane Center, Milton was about 190 miles southwest of Tampa and had winds of 130 mph as of Wednesday afternoon.

It is expected to hit Florida as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 when it reaches the Gulf Coast Wednesday night. Landfall is now projected just south of Tampa near Sarasota, with the area expected to experience wind gusts of over 100 mph.

Forecasters warned of a possible 10- to 15-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay. It is the highest surge ever predicted for that location and has led to evacuation orders for communities all along the coast. Milton’s outer rainbands had already reached Florida and were expected to dump as much as 18 inches of rain while heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, the NHC said.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday morning issued a tornado watch, which includes a vast part of Florida, including the Tampa area, the Florida Keys, and Miami-Dade County. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis provided an update about the impending Hurricane Milton Wednesday and doubled down on the need for residents to evacuate. “Mother Nature is going to win that fight,” he said, adding that the southern part of the state will get hit with the highest storm surge.

“If you’re anywhere in the eye or the south, you are going to get a major storm surge.” Evacuations were sent out in the state on Monday and there has been a 150% increase in traffic on Florida highways, he added. It was also noted that tolls will be suspended to make it easier for those evacuating. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell reiterated during a press briefing that FEMA is ready to respond and help the state of Florida.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that Milton was looking like "the storm of the century" and urged people in the path of the storm to "follow all safety instructions as we head into the next 24 hours." Biden announced Monday he approved an emergency declaration for Florida, as well as ordered federal assistance to supplement response efforts that might occur due to emergency conditions from Hurricane Milton.
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[FernandoJ]

Boss: "You still coming into work right?"

[Binknew]

The guy that went into the brush to help the overturned car 💛

[robertmatch]

From Alaska to Florida: Best wishes to you. I haven't finished all the news but what is important is that you and your near and dear are still with us. YOU are what cannot be replaced!

[tonygonzalez]

Milton was initially classified as a category 5 hurricane. Thank God it's a category 3. It is still devastating, and I pray all in its path are safe. God, protect these people, protect the rescuers, and protect the responders.

[RicanSpice]

FL had tremendous luck that this hurricane wasn't as strong as it should've been.

[nlvegan]

Prayers to all the people and animals in Florida, our hearts are with you.

[missnicki]

My prayers are with y'all from Asheville, NC. We will collectively get through this❤❤😢

[DebbieHonn-fh]

My heart goes out to everyone that has been affected by the hurricanes. I have donated, but i wish there was more i could do.

[remnantsofasoundblast]

Actually not as bad as it could have been. It dropped in strength, good thing it wasn't a category 4. Yall will pull through

[hy]

Prayers from Minnesota. Please God give Floridians strength to overcome this storm. 🙏

[RickRijuanaPro]

Maaaan.
I just went through Helene & 10 days with no power. Watching this was exhausting. I hope they recover fast

[sawtalmaghribya]

My heart with everyone, I am looking at this video and thinking we are still ok in our area. Yes we got trees and branches falling all over the place. My 🌲 home included, fencing damage, water raise too high in ponds, no water or electricity from early evening yesterday and still. But when you see other areas massive damage like this, we just keep praying for everyone’s safety.

[mikebud]

Hearts out to all who suffered or suffered tragedy in all of these hurricanes 🌀

[tamaraclark]

My heart goes with all people and animals affected by Milton
.

[lovelycapoise]

I am in Fort Lauderdale FL and Thank God that Hurricane did not hit us at all but my heart and prayers go out to all affected🙏🏾

[valeriehallmark]

Sending prayers from Texas. My mom and sister live near Tampa. Glad to hear from them this morning that they are safe. 🙏

[danielleharper]

Sending so many prayers, hugs and love to all residents of Florida.

[vincentzito]

I'm in Holiday, Florida about 30 minutes north of Clearwater...Part of my fence blew down and my dogs wouldn't go out to pee for about 12 hours, it was horrible for them. Other than that just a bunch of branches and leaves all over the place, I saw a little structural damage too but it was mostly siding and signs, also there are major power outages everywhere, My power has been out since 4:05 yesterday afternoon. I've been pretty lucky but other people have not been as fortunate as I was.

[ColinDMcIntosh]

The damage is still awful, but we got incredibly lucky that this thing basically collapsed on itself and weakened to a Cat3 right before making landfall. Feel terrible for everyone whose homes and businesses were destroyed by flooding and tornadoes.

Edit: for everyone commenting that God weakened the storm with divine intervention, I guess God also must have created and strengthened Helene, then? No? God only works in mysterious ways that we like?

If prayer worked, there'd be no hurricanes, ever. You want to assign natural disasters to God – when you're not blaming the government's top secret weather control lasers, of course – because it lets you avoid the uncomfortable truth that humans produce 36 billion tons of CO2 every year, which slowly but surely warms the planet. Warmer water = worse storms, more often. It's simple and unavoidable, except for those willfully ignorant. Gulf water surface temperatures have increased by nearly 2⁰F in just the last 15 years. We've now had 7 (nearly 8 with Milton) Cat 4/5 storms hit the Gulf Coast in the past 7 years. Before that, the prior 7 hit over the preceding 70 years. For the D- math students out there, that's a 10x faster rate.

God isn't doing this. We are. The storms will worsen so long as we burn fossil fuels as our primary source of energy. A 10 or 20-year transition plan to mostly clean energy is desperately needed if the west coast of Florida is going to be a viable place for humans to live even 10 years from now.

And before anyone tries to respond with the thought-terminating cliche of "it's pointless for America to transition to clean energy because of China's emissions, " China installed more new solar power production in 2023 – in one year – than America has installed TOTAL over decades. They are taking the climate crisis seriously; we are not.

Be grateful to God / the universe however you want for this small miracle of Milton weakening at the last second, but just remember that God helps those who help themselves. Let's help ourselves and our children live in a world that isn't at risk of inventing a new classification for Category 6 Hurricanes.

/ end rant

[Regie]

Throughout my life time, everytime a hurricane hits it always on the east coast.. specifically Florida. It feels like hurricanes happen there every year. I'm blown away that people choose to live there and buy a home there.