Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night, causing widespread destruction and immobilizing critical infrastructure. The extent of the damage is not yet known.
Maximum sustained winds are near 140 km/h, meaning Hurricane Milton is now considered a Catagory 1 storm.
Follow along for updates through the day.
7:05 a.m. EDT: Tampa’s Tropicana Field in tatters
Images of Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, show a large section of the roof was destroyed.
Fabric can be seen hanging from the frame of the structure. It’s unclear if there was any damage to the interior of the stadium.
The roof of Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, appeared to be badly damaged as Hurricane Milton passes Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Chris Urso / Tampa Bay Times via AP)
Local officials had earmarked the location for a massive redevelopment project, which includes an upgraded ballpark, as part of a US$6.5 billion downtown revitalization scheme.
Tropicana Field opened in 1990, originally costing $138 million.
6:35 a.m. EDT: ‘Teams on the ground’
Rescue teams in Hillsborough Country, which includes Tampa, have reported serious flooding and downed trees and power lines.
Images posted by the county sheriff’s office depict low-lying areas waterlogged by floodwaters. Torn aluminum siding scattered across a roadway, and a crowd of people packed into the back of a rescue vehicle.
“Our teams are on the ground, moving people to safety,” reads a social media post.
A vehicle is seen partially submerged in water at Dana Shores in Tampa, Fl. (Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook)
6 a.m. EDT: Rapid rescues, hospital transports
It’s still too early to know how much damage the storm has caused.
More than 3 million homes and businesses are without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages across the country.
The storm touched down in Siesta Key near Sarasota, about an hour south of Tampa.
Joe Lindquist, 32, of St. Petersburg, walks over bricks near a fallen crane along 1st Avenue South near the Tampa Bay Times offices in St. Petersburg, Florida, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, as Hurricane Milton’s strong winds tore through the area. (Chris Urso / Tampa Bay Times via AP)
The hurricane spawned a series of tornadoes in central and south Florida Wednesday afternoon, some of which caused serious damage to homes and sent residents to hospital, according to first responders in Palm Beach County.
“Firefighters located and rescued multiple people from damaged structures and vehicles,” reads a social media post from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. “Some were trapped under rubble or stuck in overturned vehicles tossed by the strong winds.”
Keith Pearson, sheriff of St. Lucie County on the east coast, told WPBF News, “We have lost some life.”
He didn’t say how many people were killed.
5:15 a.m. EDT: The hurricane is now leaving the state
The centre of the storm is now leaving the state near Cape Canaveral, a small coastal city east of Orlando.
There remains the potential for life-threatening storm surge from east-Florida to southern Georgia, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NOAA).
Hurricane-force winds are expected to rip through east-central and northeastern Florida as Milton moves east. Residents have been asked to keep their distance from windows. Continued heavy rainfall means flash flooding could still occur.
(Source: NOAA)