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By Hugh Cameron
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Hurricane Milton tore through Florida last night, with winds reaching as high as 120 miles per hour as it hit the east coast, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.
Milton, a Category 3 storm, made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on October 9—bringing with it destructive winds, heavy rainfall and a significant storm surge. The hurricane, fueled by the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, pummeled Florida's Gulf Coast, especially the Tampa Bay area, where it triggered tornadoes and flooding.
So severe were the storms that police in Sarasota were forced to pull patrol cars off the streets on Wednesday afternoon, with the department writing on X, formerly Twitter, "Sustained wind speeds are too strong for emergency services to respond."
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President Joe Biden urged residents to evacuate ahead of what he said could be "one of the worst storms in 100 years" for the state of Florida.
"I urge everyone in Hurricane Milton's path to follow all safety instructions as we head to the next 24 hours," Biden said during a Wednesday White House briefing. "It's literally a matter of life and death."
Below is a map showing the peak wind gusts across Florida from 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday to 3:30 a.m. on Thursday.
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Central Florida and inland areas experienced flooding, with the storm's effects being felt well beyond the coastline.
Milton downed trees and power lines, affecting areas from the Gulf Coast to North Carolina. Around 11 p.m., there were more than 2 million Floridians without power, according to poweroutage.us.
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Winds are expected to subside and conditions improve as Milton continues to pass into the Atlantic late Thursday morning. However, Florida must then confront the severe damage that the storm did to the state's infrastructure.
West central Florida is still suffering from flash floods, according to the National Hurricane Center's most recent warning, with sustained winds of up to 63 mph and gusts, shorter blasts of wind, reaching over 80 mph.
According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office, more than 5,000 members of the Florida National Guard were preemptively activated to prepare for recovery efforts.
Rescue and relief projects are ongoing, with emergency teams mobilized to clear debris and restore essential services.
Both state and national bodies, including the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have stationed responders on the ground in Florida, with FEMA having dispatched thousands of search and rescue personnel ahead of the storm.
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