Hurricane Milton hits Florida, leaving 4 dead. Biden speaks with the governor of the affected state

Hurricane Milton, a category 3 hurricane, has hit the US state of Florida, causing destruction, more than 3.3 million consumers were left without electricity, and 4 tornado victims were recorded, The New York Times reports, UNN writes.

Details

Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Wednesday evening near Sarasota in the US state of Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, crossed Central Florida without losing any of its strength. Its center was shifting away from land Thursday morning into the Atlantic Ocean north of the Bahamas. Rain and winds were still battering cities including Daytona Beach and Orlando. 

"Center of Milton pulling away from the East Coast of Florida," reported the US National Hurricane Center.

According to the publication, Milton continues to spin farther into the Atlantic.

Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off Tropicana Field, a baseball stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, toppled a tower crane onto a building in downtown Tampa, and sparked tornadoes that killed people on the opposite coast from where it made landfall, as it blazed a devastating path through Central Florida.

More than 3.3 million customers were without power in Florida as of Thursday morning. In some counties along the Gulf Coast, the storm left more than 80 percent of customers without power. Most counties across Florida were in a state of emergency. 

"Milton spawned powerful tornadoes far from where it made landfall, damaging more than 100 structures across the state. In St. Lucie County on Florida's Atlantic coast, officials said four people were killed after two tornadoes struck there. 

Officials and residents were just beginning to tally the damage and death toll early Thursday morning. On the Gulf Coast, some counties were already clearing debris and assessing damage before dawn on Thursday. Authorities in Hillsborough and Pasco counties said they had begun recovery efforts.

The densely populated Tampa Bay area appears to have escaped the devastating storm surge, but barrier islands along the gulf coast reported severe flooding. In Sarasota, Milton uprooted trees, damaged buildings, and tossed yachts onto the waterfront.

"The storm was significant, but thankfully it wasn't the worst-case scenario," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday morning. - The storm weakened before making landfall, and the storm surge, as originally reported, was generally not as significant as that seen with Hurricane Helene.

The AP reports that US President Joe Biden, who postponed a trip to Germany to chair the Ramstein meeting on Ukraine due to Hurricane, spoke with Governor DeSantis of the stricken state of Florida on Thursday morning about the impact of Hurricane Milton.

The White House said DeSantis told Biden that they were still assessing the damage to his state. The White House said FEMA Administrator Dean Criswell would join DeSantis in surveying the damage Thursday morning before briefing Biden on the results.

Hurricane Milton in the United States has weakened to Category 1Oct 10 2024, 06:58 AM • 9967 views