The storm approached the coast as a Category 3, but was downgraded to a Category 1 with sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour. Emergency warnings are in effect. Hurricane Milton left a trail of destruction on the Florida coast in the US this Wednesday (09/10), causing tornadoes and flooding in the state that has already been battered by two weeks of massive storms. Before.
About three million Florida homes were without power after the Category 3 storm made landfall around 9:30 p.m. The wind speed was 195 kilometers per hour.
After high winds battered a retirement community on Florida's east coast, with reports confirmed by police of “several casualties,” the hurricane made landfall before making landfall. So far, at least two victims have been confirmed to US media by a police official.
At least 18 tornadoes preceded the hurricane and have been confirmed to date. But the US National Weather Service issued more than 100 warnings of possible tornadoes across the state, a single-day record.
Floods and heavy rains
Local officials reported major flooding in the cities of Naples and Fort Myers on Florida's west coast, where water levels were more than 1 meter above the ground.
300 millimeters of rain was recorded in a few hours in the Tampa Bay area.
In the city of Sarasota, near Siesta Key, strong winds tore glass from buildings along the beach. The streets were deserted and the trees swayed almost horizontally from the wind. Companies set up barricades with sandbags to prevent buildings from collapsing.
Early in the morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote on his personal account that the storm had arrived in X and it was no longer safe to leave the state.
“Right now, it's too dangerous to get out safely, so you need to protect yourself,” he wrote. According to the governor, 9,000 national security agents are on hand to assist in the rescue and 50,000 professionals are working to resolve issues with the power grid.
Milton was weakened to Division 1
Overnight, the hurricane weakened to a Category 1 storm, but sustained sustained winds of 90 mph Thursday morning, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
“Heavy rain and wind continues across much of Central Florida. Flash flood emergencies remain in effect,” the NHC warned.
Expectations Thursday morning were that Milton would move further inland and pass through the tourist resort of Orlando, the headquarters of Disney World. However, once it reaches the Atlantic Ocean, it will lose strength, the NHC said.
Climate change is making extreme events worse
Scientists say extreme precipitation events occur with greater intensity and frequency as temperatures rise due to climate change. As warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, they provide more energy to the storms that form.
Milton arrives two weeks after Helen, another major hurricane that ravaged Florida and other southeastern states. Killing at least 235 people, Helen is the second deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States in more than half a century, after Katrina, which devastated the state of Louisiana in 2005 and caused nearly 1,400 deaths.
To date, the destruction caused by Milton, predicted to be the most destructive hurricane in a century, has been less than that of Helen.
fake news
US presidential candidate Donald Trump sought political gain by claiming without evidence that financial aid to fight the storms was going to immigrants, not citizens.
At the White House on Wednesday, President Biden criticized Trump's “onslaught of lies.” “There is a reckless, reckless and relentless promotion of misinformation and outright lies,” Biden said.
gq (Reuters, ap, afp, dw)
