Milton Storm Hits Florida: Triggers 19 Damaged Tornadoes, 1.8 Million Houses Lose Electricity Supply

Hurricane illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Andym5855)

JAKARTA - Hurricane Milton moved to sweep central Florida, United States on Thursday after hitting the state's western coast hours earlier, causing a deadly tornado, destroying houses and cutting off electricity to nearly 2 million customers.

Hurricane Milton hit the mainland at around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday local time as a Category 3 storm with a maximum wind speed of 120 miles per hour (195 kpj) near Siesta Key, the US National Storm Center said.

At 11 p.m., wind speeds had been reduced to 105 mph (165 kpj), or down to Category 2, but still considered very dangerous. The storm center is 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Orlando in the center of the state.

A flash flood emergency applies in the Tampa Bay region including the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater, the storm authorities said, with St. Petersburg having received 16.6 inches (422 mm) of rain on Wednesday.

The hurricane center landed in Siesta Key, a barrier island city of about 5,400 people off the coast of Sarasota about 60 miles (100 km) south of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, which is home to more than 3 million people.

Florida State Governor Ron DeSantis said he hoped Tampa Bay, once considered a potential target, could avoid major damage and the worst storm wave predicted to be avoided thanks to the landings that occurred before the tide. Weather forecasters say seawater can still rise as high as 13 feet (4 meters).

Governor DeSantis reported Hurricane Milton had also triggered at least 19 tornadoes that caused damage in many areas, destroying about 125 houses, most of which were car houses.

"Right now, it's too dangerous to carry out the evacuation safely, so you have to take cover on the spot and just stay," said Gubernu DeSantis.

At least two casualties were reported in the retired community, following the alleged tornado in Fort Pierce on Florida's east coast, NBC News reported, citing Sheriff St. Keith Pearson. His department did not immediately respond to requests for details.

How come Pearson estimates 100 houses were destroyed in the area where about 17 tornadoes landed, NBC said.

Meanwhile, more than 1.8 million homes and businesses in Florida are out of power, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm is expected to cross the Florida peninsula overnight and appear in the Atlantic, still with storm power, on Thursday.

After passing through Florida, the storm will weaken in the western Atlantic, perhaps falling under the power of the storm but still causing danger of storm waves on the state's Atlantic Coast.

In the state that was hit by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people were ordered to flee, and millions more were living on projected storm lines.

Most of the southern region of the US experienced the power of the deadly Helene Storm as the storm hit Florida and several other states. Both storms are expected to cause billions of dollars in losses.

Nearly a quarter of Florida's refueling stations ran out of fuel on Wednesday afternoon.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has transferred millions of liters of water, millions of food and equipment and other personnel to the area. There is no additional assistance that will reduce recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene, the agency administrator Deanne Criswell said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, trucks have been operating 24 hours a day to clear the piles of debris that Helene left before Milton could potentially turn them into dangerous projectiles, Governor DeSantis said.

The governor added that around 9,000 National Guard personnel were deployed in Florida, ready to assist with recovery efforts, as well as 50,000 power grid workers to anticipate widespread power outages.

The search and rescue team is ready to depart as soon as the storm passes, working throughout the night if necessary, said Governor DeSantis.

"That means almost all rescues will be carried out in the dark, in the middle of the night, but that's okay. They will," DeSantis said.