Hurricane Milton makes landfall on Florida's west coast

Ahead of Hurricane Milton reaching the US coast, strong winds were already damaging homes and property.

The home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team lost its roof late on Wednesday.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the multipurpose stadium was being used as a staging area for National Guardsmen and electrical workers.

An NBA preseason game scheduled to take place in the arena later this week has been canceled, and the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team's home opener was likely to be moved to another location.

"There's always things bigger than the game of basketball," said Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, whose team had been due to play against the New Orleans Pelicans at Tropicana on Friday. 

According to the US National Hurricane Center, Milton had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane after making landfall.

It was still packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph).

The National Weather Service warned it would continue to bring "devastating rains and damaging winds" across the central Florida peninsula throughout Thursday.

After passing Florida, the storm is expected to weaken over the western Atlantic, possibly dropping below hurricane strength on Thursday night. Nonetheless, it will still pose a storm-surge danger on the state's Atlantic coast.

Hurricane Milton has reportedly claimed its first victims in St. Lucie County on the east coast of Florida, officials have told media including local West Palm Beach outlet WPTV, the BBC and CNN.

Local Sheriff Keith Pearson confirmed "multiple fatalities" at a seniors' country club near Fort Pierce, saying police officers were using bulldozers and other equipment "to recover anyone we can, provide any help that we can."

"It's devastating, no words can describe it," he said.

Exact details remain unclear, but Pearson said the county had been hit by "multiple tornadoes" that sprung up before the hurricane's arrival. The Sheriff's office itself was reportedly also damaged.

"With a tornado, you don't know [where it will strike]," he said. "It's like having a bomb dropped at any place and any time."

He warned residents that it's now too late to evacuate, saying: "If you're home, stay at home. Don't make us come out here for you."

St. Lucie County is on Florida's eastern Atlantic coast, about 140 miles east of Sarasota, where Hurricane Milton made landfall.

US President Joe Biden held a telephone call with Florida officials on Wednesday in the hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Sarasota.

According to a White House readout, he "emphasized that he will be with them and their communities before, during, and after the storm – no matter how long it takes."

Local officials on the call included Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert, and US Representatives Gus Bilirakis and Kathy Castor.

President Biden "told each of these leaders to call him directly if they need additional assistance on rescue, response, and recovery efforts," said the White House.

"Throughout the afternoon, the President has been receiving regular briefings on Hurricane Milton's latest trajectory and expected impacts to the State of Florida.

"He will continue to receive updates from his team throughout the night as the storm moves across the peninsula."

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.