Hurricane Milton makes landfall on Florida's west coast

Authorities in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater have issued severe flash-flood warnings for nearly two million people.

"Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly," the Tampa National Weather Service (NWS) cautioned, reporting "between 6 and 12 inches (15-30 centimeters)" of rain in the last hours.

It warned of "life-threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses."

An unprecedented number of power cuts have already left over 1.1 million homes and businesses in Florida without electricity after Hurricane Milton made landfall.

The most significant outages are in Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall around 8:30 p.m. local time.

The number of power cuts is set to rise as the storm moves inland and across the state.

Taylor Swift has donated millions of dollars to charity and several top US country musicians have announced a benefit concert – all aimed at supporting people across the southern United States affected by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and who are now set to be hit by Hurricane Milton.

Pop superstar Swift gave $5 million (€4.57m) to the nonprofit group Feeding America to assist in the storms' aftermath, according to a social media post from the group.

"Thank you, Taylor, for standing with us in the movement to end hunger and helping communities in need," said CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot in a statement.

Elsewhere, country stars Keith Urban, Luke Combs and Eric Church top the bill for a "Concert for Carolina" scheduled for October 26 for the benefit of the regions worst hit by Helene.

Among other efforts, country singer Morgan Wallen donated $500,000 to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief and was spotted helping to collect supplies in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, country legend Dolly Parton donated $1 million of her personal funds to a Tennessee nonprofit. "These are my people and this is my home," Parton told a crowd in Newport, Tennessee. "I am with you because I am part of you."

Hurricane Milton has made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has said.

It was located about 115 miles (185 km) southwest of Orlando Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (205 kph).

"Data indicate the eye of Hurricane Milton has made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County along the west coast of Florida," the NHC said.

The category 3 storm has been expected to maintain hurricane strength as it has crossed the Florida peninsula. It has posed storm-surge danger on the state’s Atlantic coast as well.

The storm has been able to bring a surge of seawater as high as nine to 13 feet (2.7 to 4 meters) in some areas and has dumped six to 12 inches (150 to 300 mm) of rain, with as much as 18 inches (450 mm) possible in spots.

"This storm is here," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned residents in his latest briefing.

He has said it is no longer safe for people to evacuate from Florida.

"At this point, it is too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to hunker down."

Local authorities are reporting major flooding in the cities of Naples and Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida as Hurricane Milton edges closer to land.

In Naples, Milton's storm surge has already caused water levels to rise 3.7 feet (1.13 meters) above normally dry ground.

Just up the coast in Fort Myers, water levels are also up by nearly 3 feet.

Further north, more than three inches (7.62cm) of rain have been reported in just three hours in parts of the Tampa Bay area.

Hurricane Milton’s arrival has been preceded by several tornadoes which have swept across Florida throughout Wednesday.

At least 18 tornado sightings have been confirmed, while the National Weather Service has issued over 100 tornado warnings across the state, a record in a single day.

Tornadoes develop when warm air heated by increasing ground temperatures rises and clashes with cooler air above. The resulting thundercloud can then be caused to rotate by powerful winds blowing in different directions, with a cone-shaped funnel spinning towards the ground.

One such twister dramatically crossed interstate highway 75, although it didn’t cause any injuries. Another tore the roof off a house in Fort Myers on the west coach while another was filmed moving through Fort Pierce on Florida’s east coast.

Major Florida theme parks shuttered ahead of the storm, with Disney World and Universal Studios closed on Wednesday afternoon and SeaWorld did not open at all.

All are expected to remain closed Thursday.

The Orlando area is the most visited destination in the United States due in large part to the parks. 

In 2023 at least 74 million tourists visited the area. 

Orlando International Airport, the nation's seventh busiest and Florida's most trafficked, ceased operations Wednesday morning.

Milton weakened slightly to a Category 3 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.

However, the storm still packed winds of over 120 mph (195 kph).

Steady rain fell, and winds gusted as Milton drew closer to the Tampa Bay region is home to more than 3.3 million people and hasn't seen a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

As Hurricane Milton approaches the west Florida coast, US President Joe Biden has repeated warnings to residents to evacuate, despite the storm being set to be downgraded to category three when it makes landfall.

"No one should be confused; it's still expected to be one of the most and worst destructive hurricanes to hit Florida in over a century and sometimes moving just a few miles can be the difference between life and death," he said from the Oval Office on Wednesday.

After praising emergency service workers who he said were “ready to conduct life-saving missions,” Biden also took aim at misinformation which has spread regarding the federal response to Hurricane Helene two weeks ago.

“Quite frankly, these lies are un-American,” he said, calling out Republicans such as former president Donald Trump and Republican House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for their "reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies on what's going on.”

"Stop it,” he said. “It's outrageous.”

Biden said the government had 20 million meals, 40 million liters of water, search and rescue teams, helicopters and flood vehicles on standby to respond to Hurricane Milton.

Hours before it struck Florida, Hurricane Milton lashed the region with rain and wind, threatening a life-threatening storm surge near Tampa Bay.

"I know in hurricanes we focus on the wind speed - how strong are the winds - the wind isn't usually the killer in hurricanes; it's usually the water, the storm surge, the rainfall," Sarah Griffin, a meteorology expert and associate researcher at the University of Madison-Wisconsin's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, told Reuters.

"So, while we still have a weakening Milton and Milton is going to continue to weaken, it's still carrying that energy, it's still carrying that high storm surge."

Seven tornadoes have hit Florida before Hurricane Milton, the National Weather Service in Miami said. 

Hurricanes and tropical storms can produce tornadoes.

Gas stations in parts of Florida are experiencing gasoline shortages as residents brace for Hurricane Milton.

According to analysts at GasBuddy, more than 20% of gas stations in Florida were without fuel Wednesday afternoon, including more than 60% in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Governor Ron DeSantis emphasized that there is no statewide fuel shortage, but "demand has been extraordinarily high, and some gas stations have run out."

mf/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)