October 9 Hurricane Milton news

Our live coverage of Hurricane Milton has moved here.

Residents in Gulfport, Florida, are starting to see the “light at the end of the tunnel,” the mayor says as Hurricane Milton moves eastward.

Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson told CNN’s Laura Coates early Thursday morning that the area has received an “incredible” amount of wind and rain.

“These are definitely the most significant winds that I’ve seen since I’ve been in Florida,” Henderson said.

There have been several emergency calls made in the city, according to the mayor, and crews have been out during the night handling those calls.

“The worst of it has passed us by, the winds are subsiding, we’re still getting substantial gusts, but we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

The mayor explained that most residents took Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene earlier this year as wake up calls and evacuated the area this time around.

Gulfport is about 5 miles southwest of St. Petersburg.

Wind-driven rain soaks a street in downtown Tampa, Florida, on October 9, 2024.

Hurricane Milton continues to bring very heavy rainfall across Florida, where certain areas have already seen well over a foot of rainfall.

Below are the notable rainfall totals in the state:

St. Petersburg’s 18.31 inches fell on Wednesday, which crushes the city’s previous daily rainfall total of 6.93 inches set on September 14, 2001.

Multiple locations have already seen several months’ worth of rainfall from Milton, and the rain is continuing.

Tampa’s October average is 2.34 inches, so the city has seen several months’ worth of rainfall so far. On Wednesday, the city saw 9.12 inches of rainfall, which is the third wettest day on record for the city.

Sarasota’s total also represents nearly three times their October average of 2.76 inches.

Even though the eye of the storm has passed St. Petersburg and is nearing Orlando, winds and rain are still dangerously strong in the city, CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir said.

The Tampa Bay area has long been particularly vulnerable to flooding, with hundreds of at-risk buildings, he said, citing past investigations from the Tampa Bay Times.

What’s most “heartbreaking,” he said, was remembering when he and CNN’s Anderson Cooper both covered Hurricane Katrina when it devastated New Orleans in 2005. “That was a kind of once-in-100-years sort of lifetime storm,” he said. “But now these storms come and we don’t have time to absorb the last one.”

Parts of Florida and multiple other states along the Appalachians are still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which struck in late September and killed more than 230 people.

“But now that this has compounded, one after another, it’s really going to test resilience, (the) definition of disaster preparedness. These bigger storms, one after another, on an overheating planet, is sadly sort of a reality now,” he said.

In Punta Gorda, located around 20 miles northwest of Fort Myers, a resident captured on video an electrical transformer exploding and leaving the neighborhood without power.

The video shows roads completely flooded, looking more like rivers – then a bright blue light flashes several times in the distance. The resident shouts in apparent surprise, as parked cars begin sounding their alarms.

More than 2.4 million homes and businesses across Florida are now out of power, according to PowerOutage.us.

Watch the video here:

Video Ad Feedback

Watch: Exploding transformers light up the sky in Punta Gorda

00:45 • Source: CNN

Watch: Exploding transformers light up the sky in Punta Gorda

00:45

After Hurricane Milton made landfall earlier Wednesday night, it brought flash flooding to Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Venice, with wind speeds at around 100 mph at most of these places, according to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

By around 12:30 a.m. ET, the eye of the storm was moving inland and bringing heavy rains northeast to Orlando and Kissimmee. Meanwhile, the storm’s outer bands are sweeping east along with the storm, bringing strong winds to the Tampa Bay area.

As those winds blow back into the bay later tonight, the bay – where water was pushed out earlier tonight, leaving it at a lower water level – will fill back up, Myers said.

Several hours after it first arrived, Milton is now a Category 1 hurricane and is located about 40 miles south-southwest of Orlando.

Fatalities are reported after a tornado ripped through a mobile home retirement community in St. Lucie County on Florida’s eastern coast, the county sheriff told CNN.

Around 200 people from state and local agencies are searching for people trapped at the retirement community where the tornado “left a path of destruction,” he said. He added that search and rescue teams are facing 50 mph winds and rain as they look for those who may be stuck.

While the only fatalities appear to be in the retirement community, hundreds of homes were “completely totaled” by tornados across the county, Pearson said, including a 10,000 square-foot storage facility the Sheriff’s Department uses for emergency equipment.

This satellite image taken at 12:56 am ET on October 10, 2024 shows Hurricane Milton over Florida.

Hurricane Milton now has winds of 90 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane, according to an hourly update from the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is located about 40 miles south-southwest of Orlando and is moving east-northeast at 16 mph.

Orlando International Airport reported a gust of 74 mph around midnight, with sustained winds around 40 to 45 mph. The worst of the rain and winds are ongoing across Orlando.

Hurricane Milton’s core is about 60 miles south-southwest of Orlando and will soon make its closest pass near the city, where it is expected to knock out power to even more homes and businesses.

As of 12:40 a.m. Thursday, about 37,000 energy customers are without power in Orange County, which encompasses Orlando, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm is still a Category 2 hurricane, though its maximum sustained winds have weakened slightly to 100 mph, according to an hourly update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). It is moving east-northeast at 16 mph.

A gust of 64 mph has been reported already in Orlando.

With over 400,000 customers without power in Hillsborough County, Florida, everything from the local water supply to law enforcement phone lines has been impacted.

Tampa Bay Water is asking residents in the Tampa area to immediately limit their water use because its regional water supply system and some facilities are experiencing power outages from Hurricane Milton.

“We’re running critical facilities on generator power but need your help to maintain water supply to Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, and cities of New Port Richey and St. Petersburg,” Tampa Bay Water said in a post on X early Thursday morning.

Tampa Bay Water said it may not work to restore power until impacts from Milton subside, adding residents should limit water use until then.

Meanwhile, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said its non-emergency line is currently down due to a power outage caused by Milton. County residents should call 911 for emergencies while they work to get the line back up and running, the office said.

Orlando police and fire department personnel have been pulled from the roads due to heavy winds in the area as Milton approaches the city.

Crews have been told to shelter in place as winds have reached more than 40 mph, according to a post on X from the City of Orlando.

“When the wind speed decreases they will be able to respond to calls for service,” the city said, “Residents should continue to shelter in place.”

The center of the storm is about 40 miles south-southwest of Orlando.

A man records the storm as Hurricane Milton makes landfall, in Sarasota, Florida, U.S., October 9, 2024.

Officials in Sarasota are urging residents to continue to shelter inside as Hurricane Milton continues to make its way across the state.

Sarasota Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch told CNN’s Laura Coates early Thursday that there have been reports of flooding throughout the city, power outages and downed trees, but no significant damage calls have been made.

The vice mayor noted that once the eye of the storm passes, residents should continue to stay indoors as there are still several hours of strong winds and rain expected.

“The storm surge is something people should absolutely take seriously. We’re not out of the woods yet,” Ahearn-Koch said.

As of Thursday morning, the vice mayor said officials have not received any calls for rescues.

Once it is safe to do so, city crews will venture out to assess the damage and make sure it is safe for residents to do so, she said.

People watch water-flooded streets after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Fort Myers, Florida, on October 9, 2024.

Hurricane Milton made landfall at around 8:30 p.m. ET near Siesta Key, Florida, as a dangerous Category 3 storm before weakening to a Category 2 as it came ashore, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Power outages have soared as Milton charges inland –– doubling to more than 2 million homes and businesses without power in about three hours, according to PowerOutage.us

You can track Milton here.

Here’s what CNN is seeing around parts of Florida:

Bradenton: The storm briefly died down but it has now just been “really pouring up,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper said.

Trees are uprooted and water from the river boardwalk is ”gushing in like the ocean,” he said.

The water is rising up around his knees, Cooper said, and his team will be moving to higher ground as they get waterlogged.

Sarasota: There’s been a fair amount of destruction and concerns loom as to what damage storm surges may bring to the downtown area, which is roughly 20 minutes away from where Milton made landfall.

“I keep thinking that the winds are going to die down and they just keep picking up,” CNN’s Randi Kaye said. “And also, here the temperature has dropped significantly.”

St. Petersburg: One of the four tower cranes on Central Avenue in the downtown area has collapsed and fell into a building, CNN’s Bill Weir said.

“Hopefully nobody is down here, and that it didn’t endanger anyone but it’s just an indication of the force of these winds,” he said. The city said in a statement no injuries have been reported.

Just a mile away from the harbor, the roof at MLB stadium Tropicana Field appears to have partially ripped off, video captured outside of the field by CNN affiliate WFTS.

Tampa: Trees are flowing past CNN’s Brian Todd and his crew as rain and debris slosh through the area.

“In Tampa Bay … we had to get out because the water started pounding against the seawall. The wind was extraordinarily powerful. We got rain that was just coming horizontally, slamming into us like pellets.”

Damaging winds from Hurricane Milton are continuing to spread inland as of midnight ET, according to the National Hurricane Center in its latest update.

The Tampa International Airport recorded a sustained wind of 58 mph and a gust of 93 mph, said the NHC.

The storm is now about 60 miles south-southwest of Orlando, and about 85 miles west-southwest of Cape Canaveral, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph.

City officials in St. Petersburg, Florida, have shut off drinking water service citywide as they respond to a water main break.

“Residents and businesses should prepare for this temporary shutdown, which is expected to last until the necessary repairs can be completed,” the city said in a news release announcing the shutdown starting at midnight.

Water line repairs will begin once it’s safe for crews to be outdoors, the city said. Impacted areas may be experiencing low water pressure or service interruptions, according to the city.

The city has issued a boil water notice for all potable water used for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth. Once the system is restored, testing will be conducted to ensure water is safe before the notice is lifted, officials said.

A crane collapsed at a construction site in St. Petersburg, Florida, but no injuries have been reported at this time, the city said in a release.

It was not immediately clear the extent of the damage at the site.

The city urged people to continue sheltering in place and to avoid the area.

The National Weather Service in the Tampa Bay Area said there are reports of multiple cranes down in the region due to wind.

Video Ad Feedback

Crane collapses at construction site in St. Petersburg

00:35 • Source: CNN

Crane collapses at construction site in St. Petersburg

00:35

This screengrab taken from a video shows damage to the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on October 9, 2024.

The roof at Major League Baseball stadium Tropicana Field appears to have been partially ripped off as Hurricane Milton batters the area.

Video captured outside of the field by CNN affiliate WFTS shows a portion of the exposed roof as pieces flail in the wind.

The stadium lights from inside can be seen shining down on the field from the outside.

Tropicana Field is home to the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays and is in the downtown area of St. Petersburg. CNN has reached out to the Rays and MLB for comment.

No injuries have been reported, and residents have been urged to avoid the area, according to a spokesperson for the city of St. Petersburg.

In preparation for Hurricane Milton, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced earlier this week that the field would be used as a 10,000-person base camp for debris cleanup operations and first-responders.

CNN’s Colin Jeffery and Jacob Lev contributed to this report.

Power outages have soared across Florida as Hurricane Milton charges inland – doubling to 2 million homes and businesses without power in about 3 hours, according to PowerOutage.us.

At about 9:30 p.m. ET, more than 1.1 million energy customers were in the dark. The number now sits at 2.02 million.

Near Siesta Key, where the storm made landfall, some counties are reporting more than 70% of energy customers without power, including in Sarasota, Manatee and Pinellas counties. Hardee County in central Florida is almost entirely in the dark with 97% of customers experiencing outages.

Outages are only expected to continue rising as Milton’s tropical storm-force winds extend about 255 miles from its center, sweeping a destructive path across central Florida.

The danger posed by Hurricane Milton’s over 100 mph winds has prompted officials in Tampa to halt emergency services until it’s safe for first responders to be on the ground, the city’s fire chief said.

“We had to cease all services because it’s too dangerous to put first responders out on the road,” Tampa Fire Chief Barbara Tripp told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “A lot of residents are without power. Milton is definitely visiting Tampa.”

Tripp noted the winds are also bringing gusts of 70 mph, and emergency units can safely operate in maximum 40 mph winds. At least 400,000 people in the city are without power, the fire chief said.

President Joe Biden was briefed after Milton made landfall earlier Wednesday night, according to a statement from the White House.

Read the statement: