Images coming in from Florida show the devastating impacts Hurricane Milton has had by sweeping across the state.
Meteorologists made no secret of just how devastating the latest hurricane to hit the US could be, with one even holding back tears as he reported on the size of the storm.
The hurricane reached as high as a category five storm before it made landfall near Siesta Key, on Florida’s central west coast, on Wednesday (October 9), at which time it was dubbed a ‘dangerous’ category three.
It has since been downgraded to a category one storm, but that’s not to say it’s not left its mark on the state.
The Southwest Florida city of Punta Gorda was left flooded after Hurricane Milton sent several feet of water into the streets.
Residents attempted to prepare for floods prior to Milton’s arrival, with local Dorothy Thompson telling Wink News: “We’ve put up everything that we can. I’ve got garbage bags on important things. I have a whole bundle of things we’re going to take with us.
“We’re going to a hotel, and most of it’s in water bags and Ziploc bags. The inside of my house, I put everything I can on top of the bed and on top of the couch, and took drawers out, and you just, we’re just going to hope for the best.”
Following the arrival of the storm, the Punta Gorda Police Department is preparing to assess damage and roadway conditions, with officers responding to calls as permitted by the ongoing conditions.
Clearwater
Rescue workers have been working throughout the arrival of the storm, with police officers in the city on hand to rescue residents who found themselves trapped at an apartment complex in Clearwater after Milton made landfall.
Speaking to ABC, Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector admitted the city was ‘lucky’ it didn’t get the amount of storm surge which had been forecast, but added: “We had such heavy, heavy rain and wind that it put folks … in jeopardy.”
Siesta Key
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Siesta Key, where the storm made landfall, experienced ‘somewhere between seven to eight feet’ of flooding from a storm surge, according to Sandra Tapfumaneyi, chief of emergency management at Sarasota County Emergency Services.
In some counties near Siesta Key, more than 70 percent of energy customers were left without power.
St Petersburg
In St. Petersburg, images captured a crane collapsed into a large office building, leaving a huge hole in the wall of the structure.
The building is home to a number of businesses, including Florida’s Tampa Bay Times.
The crane was being used to build a large luxury condo building by developer Red Apple Group.
John Catsimatidis, the CEO of the group, said it was working with city officials to ‘assess the situation’ after the crane collapsed.
Fort Meyers
Located about 80 miles south of where Hurricane Milton made landfall, Fort Meyers experienced a suspected tornado ahead of Milton’s arrival, as well as suffering flooding.
According to CBS News, homes in the area had their roofs ripped off as the suspected tornado made its way through.
A total of at least nine people have so far been confirmed to have died as a result of Hurricane Milton, with the impacts of the storm still coming to light.
