Hurricane Milton makes landfall as Cat. 3 in Florida

One of the biggest storms the Gulf Coast of Florida has seen in years made landfall near Siesta Key on Wednesday night.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday on Florida's west coast, and was expected to deliver, "devastating to life-threatening impacts," the National Weather Service said.

Since landfall, Milton has weakened to a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 110 mph, according to the 10 p.m. NWS statement.

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 — where the storm made landfall — and in neighboring Manatee County.

Going into Wednesday evening, at least 133 tornado warnings had been issued in Florida in connection to Hurricane Milton.

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Here are answers to some of the questions you may have about Hurricane Milton.

What's Hurricane Milton's track?

As of 10 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2024, the storm was about 20 miles northeast of Sarasota and moving northeast at 15 mph after it made landfall near Siesta Key. The National Weather Service also said that the storm is 90 miles southwest of Orlando.

How powerful are Hurricane Milton's winds?

As of 10 p.m. on Wednesday, the storm's maximum sustained winds were blowing at 110 mph.

There were at least 133 tornado warnings in effect for much of the Florida peninsula earlier on Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

When is Hurricane Milton expected to strike Florida?

The major storm made landfall Wednesday night around 8:30 p.m.

"A northeastward motion with some decrease in forward speed is expected through this evening," the NHC said midday Wednesday. "A turn toward the east-northeast and east is expected on Thursday and Friday."

"On the forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today, make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida tonight, and move off the east coast of Florida over the western Atlantic Ocean on Thursday."

Where is Hurricane Milton expected to strike?

“We must be prepared for a major, major impact to the west coast of Florida,” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.

Steady rain fell and winds began to gust in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday morning as a mighty Hurricane Milton churned toward a potentially catastrophic collision with the west coast of Florida. By midday, rain was falling on much of central Florida.

Major bridges around Tampa Bay closed in the afternoon, said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay, and public shelters were open for evacuees. Residents should not feel relief because of indications Milton's center might come ashore south of Tampa, she said.

“Everybody in Tampa Bay should assume we are going to be ground zero,” Perkins said.

The Florida Highway Patrol said in an email Wednesday that the Sunshine Skyway Bridge spanning the mouth of Tampa Bay is closed to traffic as Hurricane Milton approached.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Wednesday that the Sunshine Skyway Bridge spanning the mouth of Tampa Bay is now closed to traffic as Hurricane Milton approaches. Officials had earlier said major bridges around Tampa Bay planned to close in the afternoon. https://t.co/KmVjgp5NRs pic.twitter.com/afXyCtGlHF

— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) October 9, 2024

The Skyway links Pinellas and Manatee counties and carries Interstate 275. It’s often closed when winds from any source reach a certain threshold.

How big is Hurricane Milton?

Rain bands from the storm spread most of the length of Florida as the eye of the storm neared land. That means the storm's rain and winds could be felt over hundreds of miles.

Tropical storm warnings were issued as far north as Savannah, roughly 200 miles from the projected path of the hurricane’s center.

What are the expected impacts of Hurricane Milton?

A Flash Flood Emergency is in effect for the Tampa Bay area as Milton continues moving inland.

Damaging winds and flooding are the biggest threats. Tornado threats also exist with at least 133 warnings issued.

‘"Unfortunately there will be fatalities," DeSantis said. "I don’t think there’s any way around that," he said at a Wednesday morning briefing.

Tornado warnings continued to pop up during the day Wednesday. More than 12 million people in the state faced the threat of tornadoes along with hail and wind, the weather service said.

The National Weather Service in Miami posted a photo on the social platform X of the funnel crossing the highway Wednesday morning with the words: “TORNADO crossing I-75 as we speak! Seek shelter NOW!”

An apparent tornado touched down in a Fort Myers neighborhood near Page Field Airport Wednesday afternoon, well in advance of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.

Some residents along Florida's west coast insisted they would stay even after millions were ordered to evacuate. Stragglers face grim odds of surviving, officials said.

“Where you are now is where you are going to be during the duration of Milton,” said the Manatee County chief of emergency management, Matt Myers.

Myers said EMS and fire protection are no longer responding to the county’s islands and bridges are closed.

Officials in Pasco County are also telling residents who haven't evacuated yet that it's “time to ride out the storm where you are.”

In a follow up video message, Pasco Assistant Fire Chief Ryan Guynn said there would be a window of several hours during the storm when emergency workers would not be able to respond to calls in person. He instructed residents in need of assistance to call 911 and be as descriptive as possible. First responders will then assist when they can, he said.

Flights to and from Florida were canceled Wednesday.

Orlando International Airport ceased operations in the morning. The closures leave tourists and residents evacuating from the storm to hunker down in area hotels. 

Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando shut down Wednesday afternoon while SeaWorld did not open at all. All three are expected to be closed on Thursday as well.

Inland from the Tampa area and south of Orlando, Polk County is home to the Legoland Florida Resort theme park, which was closed ahead of the storm.

The weather will get bad after dark and flooding may even worsen over the next couple days as rainwater finds its way to the ocean, Womble warned.

“Once you’re hunkered down, just stay put. There’s no reason at that point to go out there. There will be trees down, there will be power lines down, it will be dangerous to move around,” Womble said.

What is storm surge, how bad could it get?

"Storm surge is the abnormal rise in seawater level during a storm, measured as the height of the water above the normal predicted astronomical tide," the National Ocean Service says. "The surge is caused primarily by a storm’s winds pushing water onshore. The amplitude of the storm surge at any given location depends on the orientation of the coast line with the storm track; the intensity, size, and speed of the storm; and the local bathymetry."

The NHC issued a storm surge warning for Florida's Gulf Coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown -- including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay, and, Sebastian Inlet, Florida, to Altamaha Sound, Georgia -- including the
St. Johns River.

"The combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," the NHC said.

The biggest storm surge is expected from Anna Maria Island to Boca Grande where it could top out at 10 to 15 feet of water.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said to people choosing to remain home on barrier islands, “just know that if you get 10 feet of storm surge, you can’t just hunker down with that.”

“If you’re on the southern part of this storm, you are going to get storm surge,” DeSantis said.

“It’s churning massive amounts of water, and that water is going to come out,” he added. “Man, if you’re anywhere in the eye or south, you are going to get major storm surge.”

When was the last time a hurricane made a direct hit to Tampa, Florida?

The last time Tampa had a direct hit from a hurricane was on Oct. 25, 1921, according to the National Weather Service. "There were eight confirmed fatalities, nearly half due to drowning as the storm surge inundated near shore locations, and others from the hazards of the fallen debris like live wires."

The Tampa Bay area -- now home to more than 3.3 million people -- faced the possibility of widespread destruction after avoiding direct hits from major hurricanes for more than a century.

The normally busy interstate leading into downtown Tampa was mostly free of vehicles early Wednesday. Few cars moved on side streets. Drivers hoping to top off tanks were hard-pressed to find stations that weren't closed or boarded up. Many had plastic-wrapped their fuel pumps to keep nozzles from whipping around in hurricane-force winds.

In Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, Sheriff Chad Chronister urged residents in a Facebook video to finalize their plans: “My message is simple. We’re approaching that 11th hour. If you need to get someplace safe for whatever reason, the time to do so is now."