Hurricane Milton nears landfall in Florida, battering coast with 120-mph winds and storm surges: Live updates
Multiple confirmed tornados tore across southern Florida as ‘storm of the century’ approaches landfall in Sunshine State
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Florida residents in the path of Hurricane Milton were instructed to take shelter Wednesday ahead of the massive storm’s imminent landfall.
Milton brought destructive tornadoes, 28ft waves, strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge, hours before it was expected to make landfall.
More than 545,000 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 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.
Tampa officials tell residents to ‘hunker down'
“Unless you really have a good reason to leave at this point, we suggest you just hunker down,” Polk County Emergency Management Director Paul Womble said in an update.
Flooding has made roads in the county impassable.
With reporting from The Associated Press
Sarasota police can’t rescue Floridians when winds exceed 45 mph
Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche told CNN 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.
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