Hurricane Milton batters Florida's west coast with hurricanes, home destruction: Updates

TAMPA, Fla. - Milton slammed into Florida's already storm-blasted west coast Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane threatening huge swaths of Tampa Bay, Sarasota and regions still reeling from the destruction of Helene.

President Joe Biden referred to Hurricane Milton as “the storm of the century” and warned residents to heed evacuation orders. Tropical-storm-force winds, flooding rains and tornadoes were spreading inland as the fierce hurricane made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County.

Numerous news outlets and Tampa residents also posted video of the roof of Tropicana Field being ripped to shreds by Milton's winds. The domed stadium is home to Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays and has recently been used as a base camp to support the Florida Department of Emergency Management ahead of the hurricane.

Milton's sustained winds have tapered off from 145 mph to 120 mph − bringing it down to a Category 3 hurricane − but the storm has grown in size, making its potential damage more widespread. Milton weakened to a Category 2 hurricane after coming ashore, threatening portions of central Florida with "devastating rains and damaging winds" according to the National Hurricane Center's 11 p.m. ET advisory.

Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane intensity as it crosses Florida overnight, the hurricane center said. By late Wednesday, the hurricane carried sustained winds near 105 mph and was 75 miles southwest of Orlando.

About 125 homes had already been destroyed by Hurricane Milton by Wednesday evening, according to Florida officials. Nearly 1 million people were in the dark within 15 minutes of Milton's landfall, according to USA TODAY power outage data .

Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said most of the lost residences were mobile homes in senior communities.

"We're trying to get to Florida's most vulnerable to make sure they're taken care of," he said. But Guthrie assured Florida residents, "We are with you."

The latest hurricane strike comes on the heels of Helene, which left a trail of devastated communities across six states. Helene, which first hit Florida as a category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, killed over 200 people and is estimated to have caused between $10.5 and $17.5 billion of insured losses alone.

Milton brings fear of more widespread damage, with tropical storm-force winds extending out to 255 miles, according to the hurricane center. Millions of storm-weary Floridians had been ordered or urged to flee earlier in the day, particularly in the Tampa area, which was initially projected to be in the bulls-eye of the storm.

Tampa, with a metropolitan area that is home to over 3 million people, has not had a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than 100 years . Storm surge from Milton could drive water levels up to 12 feet above ground, the hurricane center said.

Milton is the third hurricane to make landfall in Florida this year. That puts 2024 in a tie with five previous years for the most Florida landfalls in a single season, said Phil Klotzbach, a senior research scientist at Colorado State University. The other years were 1871, 1886, 1964, 2004 and 2005.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking at a briefing earlier Wednesday, said the state is prepared. Hundreds of search and rescue personnel and 180 high-water vehicles have been embedded in likely storm impact sites, he said. Over 6,000 state National Guard members and 3,000 more from other states are at the ready, along with 50,000 linemen who will work on restoring power after the storm.

Hurricane Milton tracker: Follow the latest path of the storm

Developments :

∎ Rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches, with localized totals up to 18 inches, are expected across central to northern portions of the Florida peninsula through Thursday. The weather service warned that catastrophic flash flooding is possible in north central Florida as Milton crosses the state.

∎ More than two dozen Florida counties have either mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders in place. More than 20 million people in Florida and eastern Georgia are under either hurricane or tropical storm warnings.

∎ Tornadic supercells − dangerous, rotating thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes − were beginning to sweep across the Florida peninsula, hurricane officials said. More than 12 million people were under tornado warnings, and the National Weather Service in Miami said on social media it had "up to 4 visually confirmed tornadoes today," with unofficial reports of others.

∎ About 2.8% of U.S. gross domestic product is in the direct path of Milton, said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. Airlines, energy firms and a Universal Studios theme park were among the companies beginning to halt their Florida operations as they braced for disruptions.

President Biden: 'It's a matter of life and death'

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were among the administration officials urging Florida residents Wednesday to follow safety instructions as Milton bore down on the state.

“It’s a matter, literally, of life and death,” Biden said at a White House emergency briefing, referring to the hurricane as “the storm of the century.”

Biden has approved emergency declarations for Florida and sent search and rescue teams as well as emergency food, water, power generators and ambulances to the region. In an evening briefing, the president said the Defense Department has also positioned helicopters and high-water rescue vehicles as close to the storm as possible to be ready to conduct life-saving missions.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, encouraged residents in the storm's wake to take precautions. “This is a storm that by every measure, understand, it's going to be more dangerous, more deadly and more catastrophic,” she said.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who located to Florida's capital, Tallahassee, for Milton’s landfall, said there are more than 1,000 federal personnel in Florida addressing the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and other recent storms. She has directed an additional 1,200 search-and-rescue workers to the state to respond to Milton.

"Floridians, they're no strangers to these storms," Criswell said. "But this one, Hurricane Milton, it is expected to be catastrophic. And I promise you that FEMA is ready."

− Joey Garrison

Reverse storm surge in Tampa Bay

As Milton approached, the water began rushing out of Tampa Bay in a phenomenon known as reverse storm surge. The phenomena happens when powerful winds in a landfalling hurricane blow from the land over a bay or waterway and push the water out. South of Tampa along the coast, storm surge was flooding into communities, with increases in water levels exceeding 4-8 feet in some locations. Officials along the Southwest Florida coast warned the storm surge could continue rising into the early morning hours.

Meteorologist Tyler Fleming confirmed to USA TODAY Wednesday night a reverse surge is happening in Tampa Bay. He said water levels for the bay are below normal tide, but urged people to remain indoors until officials give the all-clear.

"It can cause infrastructure problems and people tend to walk out, which is incredibly dangerous with the water coming back in," he said.

Nearly 100 tornado warnings from Milton

Even before making landfall, Milton brought a punch for many Floridians as its outer bands prompted 98 tornado warnings from the Tampa Bay, Melbourne and Miami offices of the National Weather Service, the agency said Wednesday.

NWS-Miami meteorologist Will Redman said a preliminary report found at least nine tornadoes were confirmed in Miami, where the office had received 23 reports for South Florida as of 7 p.m. ET. The reports came from trained spotters and residents either seeing a tornado touch down or damage from a possible tornado, according to Redman, who said the worst of Milton has passed for that area.

"We were never expected to get too much rain from the hurricane," Redman said. "We're just expected to get tropical storm-force winds from the storm with the outer bands."

− Krystal Nurse

'Wall of black': Tornadoes cause widespread damage

Reported tornadoes tore through parts of southwest Florida on Wednesday, including in Collier County and Lee County, causing extensive damage across Fort Myers and Cape Coral.

North Fort Myers resident Scott Fincher was sitting on the lanai of his Pine Lakes community home with his family, waiting for Milton. As they waited, they passed the time watching the local news, which was reporting on the "tornado outbreak.”

Reporters then announced a tornado was headed into sister community Lake Fairways, which shares a boundary with Pine Lakes. That’s when Fincher knew: they had to hide.

Fincher immediately began moving everyone into the home: his wife, his sister-in-law and his dog. “Just as we were moving everybody in, that’s when it came through,” Fincher said, “and when I heard the rumbling.”

“It was a wall of black,” Fincher said. “It was just as black as could be . . . I felt fear. You could feel the ground shaking a little bit, the house and everything.”

— Kate Cimini, Fort Myers News-Press

Damage, fatalities reported in Southeast Florida

Suspected tornadoes damaged “dozens” of homes along the Treasure Coast in southeast Florida, according to authorities. The storm caused trees and live wires to fall, and neighborhoods were impassable in Martin County.

It's "absolutely atrocious," said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder. "It's a mess."

St. Lucie County officials confirmed to local television stations that there were multiple fatalities after tornadoes tore through the area. County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF-TV the fatalities were reported in Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Lakewood Park, a neighborhood in St. Lucie County north of Fort Pierce.

"We are going through the rubble," Pearson said. " ... It's devastating. There are no words to describe it."

One of Port St. Lucie's emergency management officials was personally affected by the storm's destruction when a suspected tornado took out his home in northwest Fort Pierce. Billy Weinshank, Port St. Lucie's emergency operations division director, was at work when the storm struck his home, where seven people and "a couple" of pets were staying, said Sarah Prohaska, the city's communications director.

"His house is pretty much destroyed," Prohaska said, but noted that all of the people and pets were evacuated safely.

— Treasure Coast Newspapers staff

For various reasons, several opt to ride out hurricane

It happens every time a hurricane approaches, no matter how dangerous or how much officials plead for residents to evacuate: Some invariably defy those orders and decide to ride it out .

While millions of Floridians poured onto highways to get away from Milton on Tuesday and Wednesday, many opted to hunker down in vulnerable areas. Some residents said their house was elevated and would avoid the storm surge. Others said they feared running out of gas on traffic-jammed highways. Some said they wanted to leave but lacked the means to do so.

Lloyd Martinez and two of his friends are among the few staying in the coastal community of Everglades City, about 80 miles south of Fort Myers in the threatened west side of the Florida peninsula, figuring their lodging on the second floor of a riverside seafood restaurant will be safe.

“We’re gonna be fine,” Martinez said.

− Christopher Cann, Chris Kenning and Trevor Hughes

Florida removed tons of Helene debris before Milton's arrival

DeSantis said Wednesday the state cleared out more than 3,000 truckloads of debris left behind by Helene ahead of Milton's arrival, in an effort to minimize the number of objects that could become projectiles amid high winds.

Landfills have been operating 24 hours a day and a couple of extra ones were opened as the state encouraged residents to also pick up debris and dump it, DeSantis said.

Tropicana Field , home of the Tampa Bay Rays, has been converted into a 10,000-person base camp for debris cleanup operations and first-responders, but officials said storm-debris collection would stop Wednesday afternoon as Milton approached.

− N'dea Yancey-Bragg

Homeless man with criminal record has few options

As the storm worsened Wednesday afternoon, Nolan Salter sought shelter beneath a building awning in downtown Tampa. Salter, who is unhoused, said he was hoping a friend who recently left town will return soon with a job opportunity for him.He hopes to survive until then.Court records show Salter, 32, got divorced in 2021 and was arrested for drug possession in 2023. Because of his criminal record, many traditional shelters are off-limits for him, and he said he didn’t feel comfortable hiding from the storm in a parking garageSalter said the downtown Tampa bus terminal has some large concrete pillars he felt he could shelter behind if the wind got higher. He said he hoped his heavy jacket, waterproof leather boots and multiple layers of socks and shirts would protect him.Munching on Doritos, Salter said he has more food but worried about access to drinking water. “It’s going to get really bad,” he said as he balanced his belongings in a garbage bag atop a bike with a flat rear tire. Finishing the small bag of chips, he zipped up his jacket and headed into the storm.

Biden denounces Trump's 'onslaught of lies'

Biden said he has spoken with DeSantis and other local and state leaders about Milton and gave them his personal cellphone number to contact him directly if necessary.

The president also called out former President Donald Trump for leading an “onslaught of lies” on FEMA’s recovery efforts regarding Helene.

Biden said these include baseless claims that property is being confiscated, flood victims are limited to $750 in federal relief aid and FEMA is diverting hurricane relief funds to shelter migrants. Trump has pushed each false claim.

“Now the claims are getting even more bizarre,'' Biden said. "Marjorie Taylor Greene − a congresswoman from Georgia − is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather. It's beyond ridiculous. It's got to stop."

− Joey Garrison

'It’s selfish to stay and make other people put their lives at risk'

Alex Ortiz was on the road for hours, trying to get her mother, her three dogs, eight cats and herself as far away as possible from Milton. They ended up in Destin, 370 miles north of their Pasco County home in Florida. She’d already seen the havoc wrought by Helene, and it cost her: She lost her Toyota Rav4 and a lot of her belongings stored in a ground-level garage.

“I’m exhausted,” said Ortiz, 25. She and her mother had originally planned to stay at a motel in Tallahassee, but didn’t feel safe when they arrived there. They were running out of options. Her mother is partially disabled because of arthritis and most hotels and shelters either don’t take animals or limit their number.

“What am I going to do? Throw some of them out of the car?” Ortiz said. She already had a friend take in her rabbit, but two of her dogs are seniors and prone to seizures. She loves her pets so much, she packed the urns of ones that had died previously into a rented Plymouth Voyager van.

“It’s selfish to stay and make other people put their lives at risk because you put yours at risk,” the lifelong Florida resident said. “Some people here think nothing bad can happen to them, like this is nothing. It’s nothing until it’s something.”

− Phaedra Trethan

Riding out Milton in home turned refuge

Katie Combs’ living room is full of damp family photos and birth certificates salvaged from her mother’s home after it was wrecked by Hurricane Helene. The storm – which left Combs’ home untouched – inundated and completely emptied her mother’s house in Indian Rocks Beach.

“We found two dining chairs just floating in the ocean … a random tennis shoe hundreds of yards away,” Katie Combs said.

Now, as Hurricane Milton approaches, Combs and her family nailed up boards and brought in furniture at her house in Pinellas Park – which has become a refuge for loved ones whose homes were destroyed by Helene. Recently affixed with a new roof, the house sits 20 feet above sea level and is several miles from the coast, in a city just north of St. Petersburg. She and her family stayed there during Helene and did not lose power.

“If we had to, we could just get in the car and just drive and sleep in the car with the cat,” she said. “But now that we're here and my mom is staying with a friend about 25 minutes away, I don't think getting her and leaving is an option.”

− Christopher Cann

Milton too dangerous for boat owners to stay

At the Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Commodore Robert Tintera and fellow sailboat racer Emily Wagner spent Wednesday morning fighting increasingly gusty wind and rain to install a remote camera to monitor dozens of members’ boats moored along the docks. A skeleton crew of club members remained at the facility during Helene to loosen and tighten lines as necessary. But they’ve decided it’s just too dangerous to stay for Milton.Tintera's nearby home was significantly damaged by the surge from Hurricane Helene.“The thing I was worried the most about was my sailboat, and it was my house, two motorcycles and a car that got flooded,” said Tintera, who planned to evacuate Wednesday afternoon. “Our hope is that the weak side of the storm pushes the water out of the bay."

Metalworker will ride out Milton with 10-foot metal bunny

In Tampa, while many other people made last-minute preparations, metalworker Dominique Martinez took another tack, driving around in his white pickup with a 10-foot-tall, purple metal bunny in the back. Martinez planned to ride out Milton in his studio home, which is inside an old city firehouse on high ground in Tampa. Because he wasn’t worried about his safety, he said, he could take the time to drive around his sculpture with the aim of bringing some levity to the situation.“So many people come up and are like, ‘this is so cool,’” he told USA TODAY as the wind intensified. “The proof is in the pudding. Look at your smile!”

Mapping fuel shortages: Gas shortages grow in Florida ahead of Milton

Florida's east coast also will face Milton's wrath

Milton is zeroing in on Florida's west coast, but across the panhandle the east coast won't emerge unscathed. The National Weather Service in Melbourne said the storm is likely to have Category 1 hurricane strength when it rolls over the area. The service warned Wednesday that Milton is “likely to result in a rare and historic event for parts of the area” and the region’s residents could face “devastating impacts from hurricane winds and gusts,” including major flooding.

Storm shelters throughout Brevard County, home to Melbourne, opened Wednesday morning ahead of Milton’s arrival on the Space Coast.

− Dinah Voyles Pulver and Michelle Spitzer, USA TODAY NETWORK

Marco Island resident will ride out the storm

MARCO ISLAND, Fla − On Wednesday morning in Marco Island, 180 miles south of Tampa, increasing winds began whipping palm trees Wednesday. Cars pulled into the city’s last open gas station, its windows covered with plywood and its owner manning the till because his workers didn’t feel safe to coming to work.

Outside, Tim McCoy, 72, filled a supply of gas canisters. McCoy, who owns the island’s Sandbar restaurant that was full of revelers the night before, said he’d been through nearly 20 years of hurricanes including Hurricane Ian in 2022, when the island lost power and an 8-foot storm surge flooded hundreds of buildings and vehicles.

He was planning to stay for Milton because his home is on elevated ground. He was most worried about losing electricity.

“We don’t have to worry about the flood, we just have to worry about power,” McCoy said, adding that "if it was a direct hit, I’d probably be out of here.”

− Chris Kenning

Milton forces cancellation of thousands of flights

Several Central Florida airports have closed. More than 1,700 U.S. flights have been canceled for Wednesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware . The same goes for Thursday.

American Airlines and United Airlines had added seats and extra flights Monday and Tuesday to help people evacuate the area. Now those airlines along with Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines have issued waivers that allow travelers going to or from some Florida airports to change their tickets for no extra charge. Customers can check their airline’s website for specific details on travel advisories.

If a flight gets canceled for any reason, customers are entitled to a refund, according to Department of Transportation rules.

− Eve Chen, Zach Wichter, Nathan Diller and Kathleen Wong

Hurricane Milton travel impact: What to know about flights, cruises, hotels and theme parks across Florida

Most people have left this retirement town

Much of the coastal retirement community of Venice is under an evacuation order, including some areas hosting emergency shelters. Mayor Nick Pachota said officials believe those shelters will be safe enough for people to ride out the storm in, but that most people have left already.

Helene hit Venice’s coastal areas hardest with storm surge, but Milton is expected to bring high winds and rain, along with a storm surge twice that of Helene. Venice, with a population of about 27,000, is about 70 miles south of Tampa.He said a significant concern are the piles of debris left by Helen, which are expected to be thrown around by Milton’s wind.Because so many elderly people retire there − the city’s median age is 68 years old, compared to 38 for the U.S as a whole − officials worked closely with their state counterparts to evacuate nursing home residents and others who could not move themselves.“We made a very big push to get everybody out of here and most of our facilities heeded that request,” Pachota said.

Watch Hurricane Milton live cameras: Storm approaching Florida

Is there a hurricane after Milton?

With more than seven weeks left in the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, there's a good chance that catastrophic Hurricane Milton won't be the last storm to impact the U.S. this year.

In fact, forecasters are continuing to watch several other systems across the Atlantic basin, including one east of Florida that could become Tropical Storm Nadine later Wednesday.

If the system becomes Nadine, it would be the 14th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. A typical season – which lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30 – has 14 storms. Read more here .

− Doyle Rice

Milton's size could mean more than wind speed

Milton may wobble between a Category 3 and Cat 5 hurricane, but forecasters say that ranking doesn't capture the storm's true potential . The scale that ranks hurricanes – officially known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale – is a rating based on maximum sustained wind speed, which ranges from 74 to 157 mph, or higher. The scale does not take into account potentially deadly hurricane hazards such as storm surge, rainfall, river flooding and tornadoes .

In Milton's case, experts are focusing their concerns on the storm's growing size and potential for massive storm surge along populated areas − two of the things that don't factor into category rankings. The situation was slightly different with recent Hurricane Helene , where the storm's winds were a bigger concern as it made landfall in a less populated area with lots of trees and vulnerable structures.

Milton winds peaked Monday evening as one of the top 5 strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record with sustained winds of 180 mph. Though the winds have eased modestly, the storm has grown in size.

"Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida," the National Hurricane Center warned.

− Doyle Rice

FEMA warns: 'Avoid spreading false information'

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said the agency is "prepared to respond and stands ready to support" Florida with resources requests.

"Hundreds of FEMA staff are on the ground in Florida supporting Helene recovery and coordinating with the state to prepare people for the next storm," the agency said in a news release.

What category is Hurricane Milton? Florida has bigger worries than that.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell pushed back against Trump’s claims about Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, saying she was disappointed in the misinformation he was spreading. FEMA was forced to address misinformation on its webpage and social media platforms after Trump spread claims about hurricane relief efforts, including allegations that there are “no helicopters, no rescue” in North Carolina and that the federal government is only giving $750 to those who have lost their homes.

— Saman Shafiq

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Milton batters Florida's west coast with hurricanes, home destruction: Updates