Hurricane Milton has made landfall on the west coast of Florida, as confirmed by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC). Due to this, a state of emergency has been declared in Florida.
The first blow of the disaster occurred in the Siesta Key area, where wind speeds exceeded 200 km/h. The strongest gusts are felt in cities such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers. The hurricane caused widespread power outages: about 700 thousand people were left without electricity.
I have lived in Florida for thirty-six years and I have never seen anything like this. Has? #hurricanemilton #Florida #Tornado pic.twitter.com/DfDc6DWE4A
– The Tank (@TheTankGuns) October 9, 2024
Panic is spreading in this Sarasota County.#HurricaneMilton #stay safe pic.twitter.com/HKJg1DR1eL
-Nostr (@newsandworld) October 6, 2024
One of the videos shows a Florida resident who tied his house to the ground for safety reasons:
A man secures his house when Milton arrives in Florida.#Hurricane #HurricaneMilton #hurricanemilton2024 #milton #milton2024 #milton #Florida #FloridaStorm #miltonhuracan pic.twitter.com/WU5kqbpIjR
– Facts Defender (@Factsdefender) October 10, 2024
Milton will continue to create dangerous conditions, including strong storm surge, heavy rain and damaging winds, both near the impact site and well beyond, CNN reports. The hurricane is expected to remain strong as it moves across central Florida through Thursday morning. Flooding is possible and the hurricane could be classified as a level six alert, although there are currently five levels in total.
Evacuations have affected more than five million residents and the storm has already damaged dozens of homes in Tampa and St. Petersburg. More than 1.3 million homes and businesses were left without power and authorities urged the public to prepare for prolonged outages that could last days or weeks.
The situation has been aggravated by the recent Hurricane Helen, which devastated coastal areas just two weeks ago. Record-breaking ocean temperatures this year are making powerful hurricanes an increasingly common and dangerous phenomenon. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said the effects of Milton could significantly worsen the situation caused by the previous storm:
“We will be recovering from Hurricane Helen for years and another storm will only make our situation worse.”
The United States has experienced more hurricanes this year than in the previous three years.
Previously, Kursor reported that experts were predicting unfavorable weather conditions in Israel.
