Storm surges hit Florida, over 3 million lose power
- Hurricane Milton has weakened further and is now a Category 1 hurricane, according to the US National Hurricane Center’s (NHC) latest advisory.
- The storm struck Florida as a Category 3 storm late on Wednesday after weakening from a Category 5 storm, leaving more than three million homes and businesses without power and causing an unknown numbers of deaths.
Damage sustained in Okeechobee County: Local media
Ari Hait, reporter at WPBF TV in West Palm Beach, has shared on X videos and images showing the damage sustained in Okeechobee County.
“Officials confirm two tornadoes touched down here. Neighbours say the tornado came up so fast they didn’t have time to prepare. Two people were injured,” he wrote.
Hurricane still producing damaging winds and heavy rains: NHC
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has shared a few key messages on X:
1. There is a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the coast from east-central Florida northward to southern Georgia, where a storm surge warning remains in effect.
2. Damaging hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, will continue for a few more hours in east-central and northeastern Florida. Residents are urged to remain in an interior room and away from windows.
3. Heavy rainfall across the central to northern Florida Peninsula through this morning continues to bring the risk of considerable flash and urban flooding along with moderate to major river flooding, especially in areas where coastal and inland flooding combine to increase the overall flood threat.
Travel dangerous as Milton moves through, sheriff’s office warns
In Sarasota County, “first-in” emergency crews are reporting downed power lines and trees on roadways, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.
Some bridges in the county were not passable after Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, a barrier island off Sarasota.
The sheriff’s office urged residents and business owners to stay off the roads to allow emergency and utility crews to work. “The storm may have passed but it is still dangerous to be traveling this morning,” the sheriff’s office said.
Only Glades, Palm Beach county, Lake Okeechobee under storm warning
National Weather Service Miami-South Florida has said on X that as of 5am (09:00 GMT), only portions of Glades and Palm Beach counties as well as Lake Okeechobee remain under a tropical storm warning for the gusts.
Infographic tracks path of tornadoes
The National Weather Service Miami-South Florida has shared a preliminary infographic on X, tracking the path of numerous tornadoes that hit southern Florida on Wednesday.
“Several confirmed tornadoes developed yesterday associated with Milton,” it said. “Five of seven tornadoes have been confirmed via photographic or video evidence.”
Climate change ‘supercharging’ hurricanes: Researcher
Oliver Carpenter, director of Environmental Risk, Resilience, a University of Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies spinout, has told Al Jazeera that climate change is affecting hurricane activity in the North Atlantic.
“[It is] supercharging them to be more destructive and increasing the risk of major damage. Tropical cyclones occur naturally, but climate change is fueling warmer ocean and air temperatures which is driving more intense, larger, and longer-lasting storms,” he said.
“This is a non-linear effect with small changes in temperatures leading to large changes in wind speed and rainfall. Even minor increases in wind speed and rainfall can result in significantly higher destruction. For example, damage caused by hurricanes scales with the cube of wind speed.
“This brings into sharp focus the preparedness of coastal communities and resilience to weather such extreme storms.”
