Hurricane Milton makes landfall; multiple tornadoes, casualties reported

On Wednesday evening (Oct. 9), Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the Florida peninsula, bringing apocalyptic-like destruction with multiple tornadoes, waves nearing 30 ft. and multiple casualties.

Despite government officials urging those in Hurricane Milton’s path to evacuate if told to do so, still, some residents stayed behind, and now, local police say they’re expecting to find more bodies as cleanup begins.

CNN reports that several people were rescued from underneath debris in Palm Beach, after several tornadoes touched down Wednesday evening. Authorities have also reported several fatalities as a result of the tornadoes, including in Port St. Lucie, which is just north of West Palm Beach. As of Oct. 9, Port St. Lucie was not listed as a county under mandatory evacuation order.

The Tropicana Field Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fl., which was supposed to be an emergency evacuation shelter for 10,000 emergency services workers, had a portion of its roof blown off.

As of 5 a.m. CDT on Oct. 10, Hurricane Milton’s winds have subsided to 85 mph as a Category 1 hurricane as the storm moves northeast. East central Florida continues to experience hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall, and considerable flash and urban flooding is to be expected.

As of 7:30 a.m. EST, 3,284,705 residents in Florida are without power.

This is a developing story.