At 8:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph and many tornadoes surrounding it, made landfall. Millions of residents in southern Tampa Bay are impacted by the extreme flooding and power disruptions caused by Milton. As wind and flood damage is being assessed, the storm is moving east across the state toward the Atlantic Ocean.
Tampa has not been directly hit by a major hurricane since 1921. That storm was barely a Category 3, according to the National Weather Service report. Tampa Bay is recovering from Hurricane Helene, which hit Florida less than two weeks ago.
Due to heavy rains Wednesday night, a flash flood emergency has been declared for Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk counties, which includes Lakeland, Winter Haven and Wesley Chapel. According to Weather.com , 8 to 12 inches of rain is in the forecast for the area. The National Hurricane Center reported that after parts of the region recorded more than 16 inches of rain, a flash flood emergency has been issued for Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
On Wednesday afternoon, several tornadic supercells — dangerous thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes — began sweeping across the Florida peninsula, the National Weather Service reported. More than 12 million people were under tornado warnings, the National Weather Service in Miami reported on social media. There were multiple reports of tornadoes in the central part of the state, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
It will be a while before the full damage from Milton can be assessed. Previous hurricanes have caused billions of dollars in flood damage, structural damage and power outages.
