Important Takeaways:

• Hurricane Milton made landfall on Siesta Key on the Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night as a major Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds as the state endured an assault of at least 19 tornadoes that resulted in at least five of 10 reported deaths so far.
• It never lost hurricane strength as it crossed the state exiting near Cape Canaveral on Thursday morning.
• Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson said the county had more than a dozen confirmed tornado touchdowns, and one destroyed a senior community neighborhood made up of mostly mobile homes.
• “They didn’t stand a chance,” he said. The sheriff’s office announced Thursday that five people had died in the county.
• At 11 a.m., the hurricane was located about 135 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral and 205 miles north-northwest of Great Abaco Island, Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. moving east-northeast at 20 mph. Its eye had moved off the coast as of 4 a.m. after spending nearly seven hours crossing the state.
• More than 18 inches of rain and 101 mph gusts were reported in St. Petersburg with multiple areas flooded from rain and storm surge there and up and down the Gulf Coast. A 103 mph gust was reported as deep as Mulberry in Polk County, according to the National Weather Service.
• The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season has had 13 named storms including nine hurricanes, four of which grew to major hurricane strength, and four tropical storms.
• Hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30.

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