By Thomas Stevenson – The Post Millennial
Wednesday night, Hurricane Milton made landfall near Tampa, Florida at approximately 10:30 pm local time, plowing inland and bringing torrential rains, wind gusts at over 100 miles per hour, and flash flooding. At least four people are dead as of Thursday morning, 3 million homes and businesses are without power, and the storm was strong enough to rip the roof off the stadium of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where first responders were staying, per WCVB.
Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg is home of the Tampa Bay Rays and the stadium was being used as a temporary staging area for hundreds of first responders, but thankfully no injuries were reported following the damage. Waves up to 28 feet in height were reported from inside the storm as it was headed towards Florida. Wind gusts were recorded at up to 102 miles per hour in the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas.
Hurricanes, because of their strong winds, also have the potential to lead to tornadoes on the ground. Milton sparked more than a dozen tornadoes, which led to four deaths reported in the Spanish Lakes community in northern town of Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County. Additionally, a construction crane collapsed at the 400 Central building in St. Petersburg but there are no reports of any injuries from its collapse, according to FOX 13 Tampa.
Milton grew to a Category 5 storm as it was approaching Florida, but was weakened before it made landfall, down to a Category 3. As it moved through Florida on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the hurricane weakened to a Category 1 but is expected to keep its status as a hurricane before it exits the east coast of Florida.
Rescue operations are underway after the deadly hurricane as well as in those areas where tornadoes were sparked by the storm.