Hurricane Milton weakens as it marches across central Florida, homes destroyed

10/10/2024 17:12

        Hurricane Milton marched across central Florida on Thursday after making landfall on the state's west coast hours earlier, whipping up deadly tornadoes, destroying homes and knocking out power to nearly 2 million customers.
        
        The storm made landfall around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour near Siesta Key, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
        
        By early Thursday, wind speeds reduced to a still dangerous 90 mph, dropping Milton to a Category 1 hurricane, with heavy rains and damaging storm surges. The hurricane was located about 45 miles west-southwest of Cape Canaveral, home to NASA's Space Force Station.
        
        A flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa Bay area including the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the hurricane center said, with St. Petersburg already receiving 16.6 inches of rain on Wednesday.