Hurricane Milton grows larger as ‘extremely dangerous’ storm surges closer to Florida: Live updates
Multiple confirmed tornados tore across southern Florida as ‘storm of the century’ nears sunshine state
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Florida residents in the path of Hurricane Milton were instructed to take shelter Wednesday afternoon ahead of the storm’s anticipated landfall in the evening.
The storm brought destructive tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge, hours before it was expected to make landfall.
Nearly 200,000 customers were without power across the Sunshine State, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.US.
While Milton’s intensity continues to fluctuate, weakening to a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center predicts it will be “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida”.
Federal and state officials have urged those in Milton’s path to evacuate to avoid “catastrophic” winds, up to 18in rainfall and up to 15ft of storm surge, before the major hurricane slams into Florida’s west-central coast.
Vice President Kamala Harris warned that even the toughest Floridians won’t weather the “historic” hurricane, she said on The Late Show on Tuesday night.
Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche told CNN on Wednesday that officers will stay on the streets until Milton’s winds top 45mph.
“If people need help, we’re not going to be able to come to them,” he said.
Biden slams MTG over ‘bizarre’ claim the government is controlling the weather: ‘It’s so stupid'
Hurricane-force wind gusts begin along Florida’s Gulf Coast
Heavy rainfall was continuing over central Florida early Wednesday evening, with hurricane-force wind gusts beginning to occur along the state’s Gulf Coast.
A sustained wind of 58mph and a gust of 77mph was recently reported at a WeatherFlow station at Egmont Channel.
Florida's 'Lieutenant Dan' refuses to leave boat despite imminent Hurricane Milton landfall
A Florida man nicknamed “Lieutenant Dan” — after Gary Sinise’s Forrest Gump character — refused to leave his boat as Hurricane Milton approached the state as a Category Three storm on Wednesday, 9 October.
The Independent’s Holy Patrick has more: https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/florida-hurricane-milton-lieutenant-dan-b2626819.html
Life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds expected on west Florida peninsula tonight
Biden says no one should be confused about Category 3 Milton’s impact: Storm still expected to be one of the ‘worst'
“No one should be confused. It’s still expected to be one of the most and worst, destructive hurricanes to hit Florida in over a century,” President Joe Biden said, speaking from the White House.
“Milton still carries incredible destructiveness,” he said, noting that storm surge is still expected to reach up to 13ft.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp warns coastal residents of Milton impacts
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday urged residents of his state’s coastal counties to prepare for falling trees, power outages, and possible flooding from Hurricane Milton.
“We don’t think this is going to be a hard hit,” Kemp said. “But we want to over-prepare and hope this storm, for us at least, under-delivers.”
With reporting from The Associated Press
Tampa faces biggest evacuation in decades, authorities say
“This the largest evacuation that we have done in the 53 years that I’ve been alive in Tampa, Florida. And this is definitely the storm of the century,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw told ABC News Live.
Florida power outages now exceed 157K as storm picks up
More than 157,000 customers are without power in the Sunshine State, up from over 60,000 earlier in the afternoon, according to tracker PowerOutage.US.
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