Hurricane Milton weakens to Category 2 after making landfall in Florida
Hurricane Milton made landfall at 8:31 p.m. ET on Wednesday as a Category 3 storm about 5 miles west of Siesta Key, according to the Hurricane Center. Winds were estimated at 120 mph.
About 90 minutes after landfall, Milton weakened to a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. The storm's center was located roughly 20 miles northeast of Sarasota, moving east-northeast at 16 mph.
Despite the downgrade, Milton remained highly dangerous. A flash flood emergency was issued for the Tampa Bay area, including St. Petersburg and Clearwater, as torrential rain posed a severe threat to life. The National Weather Service warned that catastrophic flooding was either occurring or imminent, urging residents to take immediate precautions.
Siesta Key is a prosperous strip of white-sand beaches that's home to 5,500 people about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. The storm was still bringing a potentially deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.
Heavy rains were also likely to cause flooding inland along rivers and lakes as Milton traverses the Florida peninsula as a hurricane, eventually to emerge in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.
More than 100 tornado warnings
Hurricane-force winds blasted the west coast of Florida as the outer bands created more than 100 Tornado Warnings across Central and South Florida. Power outages started to rise above 340,000. Flooding is already reported around Tampa Bay, according to Florida State Patrol troopers.
"The northern eyewall of Hurricane Milton is beginning to move onshore of the Florida Gulf Coast near Tampa and St. Petersburg where an Extreme Wind Warning is now in effect," the National Hurricane Center said. "Please shelter in place as these extremely dangerous hurricane-force winds overspread the region."
Milton's impacts ahead of landfall
Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people. Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, because first responders were not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch told residents to expect long power outages and the possible shutdown of the sewer system.
More than 60% of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Wednesday afternoon, according to GasBuddy. DeSantis said the state's overall supply was fine, and highway patrol officers were escorting tanker trucks to replenish the supply.
More than 1 million homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night in Florida, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. The highest number of outages were in Sarasota County and neighboring Manatee County.
By early afternoon on Wednesday, airlines had canceled about 1,900 flights. SeaWorld was closed all day Wednesday, and Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando shut down in the afternoon.