Author: Terry Spencer and Kate Payne
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Milton barreled across Florida as a Category 3 storm on Thursday, slamming into the Atlantic Ocean, pummeling cities with fierce winds and rain, launching a string of tornadoes and killing an unknown number of people. This intensified the pain caused by Helen while sparing Tampa a direct hit.
The storm moved southward in the final hours and made landfall Wednesday night on Siesta Key, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Tampa. The situation in the Tampa area remains under a severe emergency, and St. Petersburg recorded more than 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of flash flooding in the area and elsewhere in west and central Florida.
The storm left most of Florida without power, with more than 3.2 million homes and businesses without power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
High winds tore the roof fabric to shreds at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team, in St. Petersburg. It was unclear whether there was any damage inside. Several cranes also collapsed during the storm, the weather service said.
St. Petersburg residents also can no longer get water from their taps in their homes because a water main break has shut down the city's water supply.
Tornadoes tore through the state before making landfall in Milton. The Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce on Florida's Atlantic coast was particularly hard hit, with homes destroyed and some residents killed.
“We lost some lives,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson told WPBF News, but he did not say how many people were killed.
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, said about 125 homes were destroyed before the hurricane made landfall, many of them mobile homes in senior communities.
About 90 minutes after landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm. By early Thursday, the hurricane had become a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph (135 kph) and exited the state near Cape Canaveral.
But the danger isn't over yet: Storm surge remains a problem in many parts of Florida, with tropical storm warnings in effect for much of the east-central coast. Officials in hard-hit Pinellas and Sarasota counties urged people to stay off the roads and warned of downed power lines, trees on roads and blocked bridges.
“The storm may have passed, but travel remains dangerous this morning,” the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said in a social media post.
The storm swept through the region two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and killed at least 230 people in the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton's high winds and storm surge could sweep it up and cause more damage.
Officials issued dire warnings, asking people to flee or face little chance of survival. By late afternoon, some officials said the time for such efforts had passed, suggesting those who remained should hunker down.
Jackie Curnick said she was hesitant to decide to stay at her home in Sarasota, just north of where the storm made landfall. She and her husband started packing on Monday to evacuate, but they were having trouble finding available hotel rooms, and the few they found were too expensive.
Konik, who is due on Oct. 29 and has a 2-year-old son and a baby girl, said if they got in the car and left, too many questions would be left unanswered: Where to sleep, whether they could fill up the tank tanks, and whether they can find a safe route out of the state.
Video taken during the storm showed howling winds and heavy rain lashing the glass-enclosed swimming pool as her son and their dog looked on. The trees shook violently.
“The problem is it's very difficult to evacuate on the peninsula,” she said before the storm. “In most other states, you can leave in any direction. In Florida, there are only so many roads that can take you north or south.
At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis described the deployment of a variety of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; more than 50,000 utility workers from as far away as California ;Highway patrol cars with sirens escorting tanker trucks to replenish supplies so people can fill up before evacuating.
“Unfortunately, people are going to die. I don't think there's any way to fix this,” DeSantis said.
Heavy rain and tornadoes hit parts of southern Florida starting Wednesday morning, with conditions worsening throughout the day. Inland, rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches (15 to 31 cm) are expected, with up to 18 inches (46 cm) in some areas, creating the risk of catastrophic flooding.
A tornado struck the sparsely populated Everglades and crossed Interstate 75 early Wednesday morning. broken into pieces.
Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for 15 Florida counties with a total population of approximately 7.2 million. As of early afternoon, airlines had canceled about 1,900 flights. SeaWorld was closed all day Wednesday, and Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando were closed in the afternoon.
More than 60% of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Wednesday afternoon, according to GasBuddy. DeSantis said the state's overall supply situation is good and Highway Patrol troopers are escorting tanker trucks to replenish supplies.
Officials warned that anyone left behind must take care of themselves, as first responders were not expected to risk their lives in attempted rescues at the height of the storm.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch told residents to expect extended power outages and possible sewer system shutdowns.
In Port Charlotte, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Tampa, Josh Parks was loading his Kia sedan with clothes and other items as the clouds swirled and the wind howled. Flooding in Helen two weeks ago brought about 5 feet (1.5 meters) of water to the neighborhood, and streets were still filled with submerged furniture, torn drywall and other debris.
Parks, an automotive technician, planned to flee to his daughter's home inland and said his roommates had already left.
“I told her to pack her bags like you're not coming back,” he said.
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Contributing to this report was Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer in New Hampshire. Joseph Frederick, West Bradenton, Fla.; Curt Anderson, Tampa; Freida Frisaro, Fort Lauderdale; Tallahassee Brendan Farrington; Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Jeff Martin in Atlanta , Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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