Hurricane Milton made landfall on Siesta Key on the Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night as a major Category 3 hurricane with mph winds as the state endured an assault of at least 19 tornadoes that resulted in at least six of 13 reported deaths so far. It never lost hurricane strength as it crossed the state exiting near Cape Canaveral on Thursday morning.
Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said the county had more than a dozen confirmed tornado touchdowns, and one destroyed a senior community neighborhood made up of mostly mobile homes. Four people were killed in Volusia County, including two who died when trees fell on their houses. And St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway attributed two deaths to the storm. Another death was reported out of Polk County when an employee working to cut down a tree that was blocking a highway was struck by the vehicle of a fellow employee on route to help with post-storm recovery.
Houses lie in ruins after sustaining tornado and flood damage from Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. People are rescued from an apartment complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. A construction crane fell over into an office building that houses the Tampa Bay Times headquarters, Thursday, Oct. Tampa Bay Times via AP. The St. Law enforcement officers look through damage from suspected tornadoes that ripped through the Spanish Lakes County Club Village in Fort Pierce, that spun off of Hurricane Milton overnight on Thursday, October 10, The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in the Siesta Key area of Florida, causing damage and flooding throughout Central Florida.
Small boats rests on a pier after they were unmoored during Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. Women look at an uprooted tree the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Thursday, Oct. It was still a Category 1 hurricane with 85 mph sustained winds when its eye had moved off the Florida coast as of 4 a.
Emergency officials urged residents to stay inside Thursday morning as teams assessed damage including downed power lines and fallen trees. Search and rescue operations were in effect in some Gulf Coast counties. Ron DeSantis said the state had rescued individuals and 49 pets by Thursday afternoon.
