You’re watching the NBC6 South Florida News streaming channel, which plays local South Florida news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can find the “NBC6 South Florida News” streaming channel on your phone or computer, and on Peacock, Samsung, Roku, Xumo or on our app, so you can watch our local news on your schedule.
Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, pounding cities with ferocious winds and rain, whipping up a barrage of tornadoes and causing at least 11 deaths.
The storm made landfall Wednesday night in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa, as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 120 mph. By Thursday afternoon Milton had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of Thursday morning, more than 3 million customers in Florida had lost power, according to data from poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
At least five deaths have been confirmed in St. Lucie County on the state’s Atlantic coast, where tornadoes touched down, NBC News reported. At least two people were killed in St. Petersburg during the storm, police said. At least three people died in Volusia County, according to the sheriff. And one person is dead in Citrus County after a tree fell on their car, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that Hurricane Milton was a significant storm but not “the worst case scenario.” The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa never materialized, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain in some parts of the area, the governor said. The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet.
“We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses,” he said, adding that water levels in many Florida rivers are forecast to continue rising.
The fabric that serves as the roof of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St. Petersburg, was ripped to shreds by the fierce winds. It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside. The stadium was suppose to serve as a basecamp for 10,000 first responders and workers brought to the area to deal with the aftermath of the storm. It is not clear how many people were inside the venue when it was damaged.
Multiple cranes were also toppled in the storm, including one that collapsed into the Tampa Bay Times' office building, the weather service said.
As dawn broke Thursday, officials repeated that the danger had not passed: Storm surge remained a concern in many parts of Florida and tropical storm warnings were in place for much of the east-central coast. Officials in the hard-hit counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota and Lee urged people to stay home, warning of downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges and flooding.
"It’s not over," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said in a morning news conference, warning that flooding was still a concern. “At 7 a.m. when high tide comes in, rivers are going to flood all over Hillsborough County, not just in the city of Tampa,” she said.
Castor urged residents to stay inside until city officials could go out and assess the damage and make sure it was safe for people.
Just inland from Tampa, the flooding in Plant City was “absolutely staggering,” according to City Manager Bill McDaniel. Emergency crews rescued 35 people overnight, said McDaniel, who estimated the city received 13.5 inches of rain.
“We have flooding in places and to levels that I’ve never seen, and I’ve lived in this community for my entire life,” he said in a video posted online Thursday morning.
President Joe Biden advised those affected by Milton to "stay indoors and off the roads," adding "help is on the way" in a post on X.
To everyone impacted by Hurricane Milton: I urge you stay inside and off the roads.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 10, 2024
Downed power lines, debris, and road washouts are creating dangerous conditions.
Help is on the way, but until it arrives, shelter in place until your local officials say it’s safe to go out.
Farther south, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported localized flooding and storm surge, and Lorraine Anderson, the public information officer for Venice Beach, said on CNN that the area saw an estimated 6 to 7 feet of storm surge, far below the feared 15.
In contrast, city workers on Anna Maria Island were grateful not to be wading through floodwaters as they picked up debris Thursday morning, two weeks after Helene battered buildings and blew in piles of sand up to 6 feet (1.8 m) high. Those piles may have helped shield homes from further damage, said Jeremi Roberts of the State Emergency Response Team.
“I’m shocked it’s not more,” city worker Kati Sands said as she cleared the streets of siding and broken lights. “We lost so much with Helene, there wasn’t much left.”
State officials said they completed more than 40 rescues overnight and crews would be going door to door in some areas Thursday. In Tampa, police said they rescued 15 people from a single-story home damaged by a fallen tree.
“We are laser-focused on search-and-rescue operations today,” said Col. Mark Thieme, executive director of the Florida State Guard.
More than 3,000 flights have been canceled and delayed, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware, as many airports throughout Florida were shut down because of Milton, causing a ripple effect across the country.
Before Milton even made landfall, 150 tornadoes touched down across the state. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce, on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, was hit particularly hard, with homes destroyed and two residents killed.
“There were cars lifted and flipped upside down, moved hundreds of yards,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said. “I can tell you that there was nothing left to some of these places but foundations.”
About 125 homes were destroyed by twisters, many of them mobile homes in communities for senior citizens, Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said.
The tiny barrier island of Matlacha just off Fort Myers got hit by both a tornado and surge from Hurricane Milton, with many of the turquoise, salmon and lavender buildings sustaining serious damage. Several collapsed or were knocked off their pilings. Utility poles snapped and there was no power Thursday morning. The fishing and tourism village also got severely hit by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and Ian two years ago.
Tom Reynolds, 90, said the tornado “picked up a car and thrown it across the road.” It also blew house into another street, temporarily blocking it. Reynolds spent Thursday morning sweeping out the four feet of mud and water the surge deposited in his two-story home and collecting the large chunks of his home’s aluminum siding that had been ripped off by the tornado. He said plans to clean up his house, which he built three decade ago, get it fixed and stay.
“What else am I going to do?” Reynolds said.
The storm slammed into a region still 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.
Officials had issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival.
“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.”
By late Wednesday afternoon, some officials said the time had passed for such efforts, suggesting that people who stayed behind hunker down instead. By the evening, some counties announced they had suspended emergency services.
Jackie Curnick said she wrestled with her decision to stay at home in Sarasota, just north of where the storm made landfall. She and her husband started packing Monday to evacuate, but they struggled to find available hotel rooms, and the few they came by were too expensive.
With a 2-year-old son and a baby girl due Oct. 29, Curnick said there were too many unanswered questions if they got in the car and left: Where would they sleep? Would they be able to fill their gas tank? And could they even find a safe route out of the state?
“The thing is it’s so difficult to evacuate in a peninsula,” she said ahead of the storm. “In most other states, you can go in any direction to get out. In Florida, there are only so many roads that take you north or south."
On Thursday morning, she reported that the family was without power but safe.
Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people. In Orlando, Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Sea World remained closed Thursday.
More than 60% of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Thursday morning, according to GasBuddy, though DeSantis said the state’s overall supply was fine.
In Charlotte Harbor, 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 Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Helene’s surge brought about 5 feet (1.5 meters) 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.
