Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key, Florida, Wednesday night around 8:30 p.m. The storm brought heavy rain, flooding, tornadoes, storm surge, and strong winds for about eight hours before leaving the ocean just north of Cape Canaveral as a Category 1 hurricane.
The hardest hit areas included Sarasota, Fort Myers, St. Petersburg, St. Lucie and other Gulf Coast cities. A storm surge warning was in effect from the east coast of Florida to Altamaha Bay in Georgia.
Hurricane Milton caused destruction to towns on Florida’s west coast, central coast, and east coast.
Officials reported downed trees, storm surge, flooding, destroyed homes, damaged roads, downed power lines, and damage to infrastructure, power and water systems, and more.
Nine deaths were reported as of 11 a.m. Thursday, but search and rescue operations had not yet begun.
Officials warned that some 11 million people were at risk of flash floods and river flooding after historic amounts of rain fell in parts of the state. St. Petersburg suffered approximately 18 inches of water and localized flooding. St. Johns County also experienced “widespread flooding,” making some roads impassable, officials said.
Search and rescue operations continued Thursday morning, and initial reports indicate that about 125 homes, mostly mobile homes in senior citizen communities, have been destroyed.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 3.3 million Florida residents were without power.
tornado
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that Milton “spawned a number of tornadoes” in the affected areas. “We expect to see confirmed casualties from the tornado, but that was as far as the east coast of Florida,” he added.
Four deaths were reported in St. Lucie County on Florida’s Atlantic coast after multiple tornadoes touched down in the county on Wednesday, officials said.
Hours before Milton made landfall, the National Weather Service in Miami reported at least seven tornadoes and 53 tornado warnings, 41 of which were issued by the Miami Weather Service.
Videos and photos posted online Wednesday showed several patchy tornadoes that grew in size as they moved across southern Florida.
high tide
The powerful storm surge that officials had predicted before Milton’s arrival may not have been as bad as expected, though some areas, including parts of Sarasota County, recorded storm surges of 8 to 10 feet.
On Thursday, DeSantis also said, “While the storm was significant…thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario,” adding, “The storm weakened before landfall and the storm surge that was initially reported was It wasn’t as serious as before,” he added. Observed during Hurricane Helen. ”
Storm surge is the rise in sea level caused by storms and can cause massive flooding, often posing the greatest threat to life and property during hurricanes.
The main reason for this height is water being pushed onto the coast by stormy winds. When a hurricane approaches a coast, winds push seawater onto land, and atmospheric pressure from the storm also pushes seawater onto land. The shallower the continental shelf, the greater the threat of dangerous storm surges. Storm surge becomes even more dangerous when it coincides with high tide.
The water is heavy, about 1,700 pounds (770 kg) per cubic yard (0.76 cubic meter), and can surge to knock down people, throw boats and vehicles, and shatter structures. Tidal currents, combined with waves, can also severely erode beaches and coastal highways.
According to the National Hurricane Center, 6 inches of fast-flowing water is enough to knock an adult over. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused a storm surge of more than 25 feet along the Mississippi coastline, directly or indirectly killing as many as 1,500 people.
Relationship with climate
Hurricane Milton is the second deadly storm to hit Florida in two weeks, experts say, as the climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, makes hurricanes more intense and dangerous. It became a hurricane that caused
According to the Atmospheric Research University Corporation, sea levels are predicted to rise by 29cm to 82cm by the end of this century as seawater temperatures continue to rise.
Research shows that rising sea levels will make storm surge flooding more damaging during hurricanes.
Greenhouse gases not only help trap heat in the atmosphere, they also contribute to warming the oceans to record temperatures.
In addition, the Gulf of Mexico, where many hurricanes form, has become unusually hot, making them stronger and more intense. The extra heat acts as a kind of jet fuel for hurricanes, quickly turning them into larger storms.
Researchers found that since the 1970s, the number of storms that escalate to Category 4 or 5 hurricanes with wind speeds of at least 131 mph (210 kph) or higher in the North Atlantic has nearly doubled. .
“If you look back, storms have historically intensified at a slower rate than they do now,” said Phil Klotzbach, a researcher at Colorado State University who specializes in hurricane forecasting.
