Hurricane Milton live updates as powerful storm moves offshore after pummeling Florida

Milton dropped at least 18 inches of rain on parts of St. Petersburg overnight, officials said. It was the highest rainfall total recorded since the hurricane struck Florida.

Emergency management officials in Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg, urged residents to stay off flooded roads early Thursday morning.

"Over 18" of rain and gusts to 101 MPH in parts of @StPeteFL as #Milton moved through the area," officials wrote in a social media post. "As such, widespread damages, flooding, and dangerous debris is being reported all around."

The hurricane brought roughly a foot of rainfall to sections of western and central Florida over the last 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Places around Tampa, Orlando and St. Petersburg saw the most accumulation compared with the rest of the state, but 17.6 inches were recorded near Albert Whitted Airport on the shores of Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg — the greatest by far.

Wind speeds neared or topped 100 mph in western Florida Wednesday night. The most powerful winds whipped past maritime stations at Egmont Channel and Skyway Fishing Pier at the mouth of Tampa Bay as Milton was making landfall, according to the National Weather Service in Tampa.

Skyway Fishing Pier recorded a gust of 103 mph at 8:30 p.m., around the time Milton struck Siesta Key, and Egmont Channel recorded another gust of 105 mph about 45 minutes later. The latter reading was the highest of the night.

Gusts recorded elsewhere in the region were almost as strong. Tampa, Sarasota and St. Petersburg each recorded winds of around 100 mph before midnight.

Four people were killed when a dozen tornadoes associated with Hurricane Milton ripped through St. Lucie County in southeastern Florida Wednesday, a county official confirmed Thursday morning.

County spokesperson Erick Gill told CBS News Miami at least one of the deaths occurred in Spanish Lakes Country Club Village, a senior mobile home community near Fort Pierce.

Sheriff Keith Pearson told CBS West Palm Beach affiliate WPEC-TV it was "like nothing other we've seen." He said all 12 twisters hit in a 20-minute span.

Read more here.  

Tampa police say they rescued 15 people, including multiple children, from a single-family home after a tree crashed onto it.

Police Chief Lee Bercaw told reporters water was coming into the house.

The officers were sheltering less than two miles away when the 911 call came in and raced to get the people out as soon as there was a break in Milton's storm bands.

They took the occupants to a shelter in a nearby elementary school.

Police added that, "One officer took the time to ensure the main power to the home was turned off before leaving."

The department posted video of the rescue.

Read more here.

Several organizations are preparing to assist households hit by Milton. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has numerous disaster recovery centers throughout the state. The White House said Wednesday that FEMA has 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water ready to deploy to address ongoing Helene and Milton response efforts. 

Information about how to access shelters and apply for assistance can be found at disasterassistance.gov. Residents can also call 800-621-3362 or TTY 800-462-7585.

The American Red Cross is collecting donations to provide shelter and supplies for those affected by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene. 

The Florida Disaster Fund has said it will distribute donations to service organizations that help people with disaster response and recovery. Collected donations will be used for those affected by Milton and Helene, the fund said.

Read more here.

After making landfall in Florida with a Category 3 status, Hurricane Milton weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moved across the state.

As of 5 a.m. Eastern Time, Milton had maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour and was moving off Florida's east coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Milton's center was some 10 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral. The storm picked up speed as it made its way across the peninsula and was moving northeast at a brisk 18 mph clip.

It was "still producing damaging hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall in east-central Florida," the hurricane center said, adding that Milton's center "will move away from Florida and to the north of the Bahamas today. Gradual weakening is expected, but Milton is forecast to become a powerful extratropical low tonight."

Milton made landfall at about 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. 

Under the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a Category 1 hurricane is defined as having maximum sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph.

This map shows what parts of Florida are experiencing power outages, according to Find Energy.

The roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Milton Wednesday night. 

Video obtained by CBS Tampa affiliate WTSP showed parts of the roof of the stadium, which is the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, appearing to have been torn to shreds or ripped off altogether.

WTSP reported that Tropicana Field had previously served as a staging area for thousands of linemen and National Guard members who were preparing to respond to Milton, with photos showing rows of cots lining the field.  

A spokesperson for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told WTSP that the linemen's staging area had been relocated prior to the damage. 

St. Petersburg Fire Rescue later confirmed that there were no injuries in the incident.

The fire department also said there were no injuries when a construction crane collapsed in downtown St. Petersburg.

The Tampa Bay Times says a crane collapse during Milton left "a gaping hole in an office building that houses several businesses" including the Times, but the building had closed before Milton hit and no one was in the paper's newsroom when the crane came down.

A significant water main break forced the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, to shut off drinking water service early Thursday morning.  

The citywide shutoff began at midnight Wednesday in order "to address the issue and prevent further complications," the city announced in a statement.  

The city said repairs would begin as soon as it was safe for utility crews to be outside, adding that "temporary shutdown was expected to last until the necessary repairs can be completed."

A boil water notice was also being put in place until further notice. 

The White House said President Biden was briefed on Hurricane Milton after it made landfall Wednesday evening.

A White House spokesperson told CBS News in a statement that the briefing on the initial impact of the storm was conducted by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.

Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Biden delivered remarks about Milton in which he said his administration would offer support "for as long as it takes to rescue, recover and rebuild." 

The president said there were 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water ready to be delivered, and said the Pentagon has pre-positioned search and rescue teams, helicopters and water vehicles.

Multiple people were injured when tornadoes ripped through Palm Beach County on Florida's east coast Wednesday night, damaging homes and buildings in the process, officials said.  

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said that just after 5 p.m. local time it responded to "multiple reports of tornadoes, associated injuries and trapped people" in various areas.

"Our crews on the scene reported several damaged homes, vehicles picked up and moved, and debris all over the area," the fire department said in a news release.

About 40 responding units rescued people from damaged structures and vehicles, the fire department said. One person was rescued from an overturned RV.

"Some were trapped under rubble or stuck in overturned vehicles tossed by the strong winds," the fire department said.

Five people, including three trauma patients, were transported to local hospitals, the fire department reported.

There were at least 20 confirmed tornadoes in Florida Wednesday, according to CBS Mornings weather producer Elie Morrison. 

Hurricane Milton had sustained winds of 105 mph as of 11 p.m. ET, making the storm a Category 2 hurricane — which is defined as a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 96-110 mph.

Milton had made landfall earlier in the evening as a Category 3 storm, considered a major hurricane, with 120 mph winds.

Milton was forecast to "maintain hurricane intensity" while it moves northeast across the Florida peninsula before emerging off Florida's east coast sometime Thursday, the hurricane center said. 

After entering the Atlantic, it will weaken to a tropical storm. 

The Tampa metropolitan area was seeing between three and five inches of rain per hour, Jamie Rhome, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, told CBS News Wednesday night after Hurricane Milton made landfall.

"To put that in context, because you might not be used to hearing those types of numbers, that's two and three times the normal rain rate, or speed, that rain would fall from just a traditional thunderstorm," Rhome explained. "And when rain falls that fast, that hard on an urban area, you almost get an instant flood, it has nowhere to go, you just get this instant flash flooding, and you're seeing that unfold all throughout the Tampa Bay area as we speak."

The National Hurricane Center said a flash flood emergency was in effect for the Tampa area at 10 p.m. ET. 

Rhome said that the "shield of heavy rain" would move northeast along the Interstate 4 corridor overnight, also hitting Lakeland and Orlando.

"It is absolutely unsafe to be out of your house and driving in those conditions," Rhome said.

Rhome expected the I-4 corridor to see "catastrophic flooding" as a result, and emphasized that Milton would remain a hurricane as it traverses the Florida peninsula.

"And you on the Florida east coast, if you think you're out of the woods, this is a Florida west coast problem, no, you're going to have hurricane-force winds all the way over on the Florida east coast," Rhome said. 

A suspected tornado touched down in Fort Myers, Florida, on Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall later Wednesday night, one of several which were believed to have touched down statewide, CBS News correspondent Nicole Valdes reports.

A doorbell camera captured footage of the damage as it whipped through palm trees in the neighborhood and ripped off the roof of a home. The extent of the damage was still unknown. It was unclear if there were any injuries.    

More than 100 tornado warnings blared across the state earlier in the day. There were at least 20 confirmed tornadoes in Florida Wednesday, according to CBS Mornings weather producer Elie Morrison.

In the southeastern Florida county of St. Lucie, there were "multiple reports of tornadoes touching down," county spokesperson Erick Gill told CBS News by email Wednesday evening.

Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson feared the worst for those still in the city Wednesday night.

"I'm praying for their safety, and I hope they survive," Anderson told CBS News.

All the debris from both Hurricane Helene and the suspected tornadoes could put even inland communities at risk of even more damage as powerful winds from Milton are expected to continue well into Thursday.

Several injuries, both serious and minor, have been reported in Martin County, Florida, as a result of Hurricane Milton. No fatalities had been reported as of Wednesday night, Martin County Fire Rescue said.

Martin County Fire Rescue also said it estimated dozens of homes had been damaged, "some severely," by the storm.

Martin County is located on Florida's east coast, north of Palm Beach.

Federal Emergency Management Administrator Deanne Criswell indicated in a briefing Wednesday that the agency's Disaster Relief Fund could face a funding crisis. 

Criswell said the agency currently has about $9 billion in its coffers after it spent about $11 billion responding to Hurricane Helene.

"I'm going to have to evaluate how quickly we're burning the remaining dollars within the Disaster Relief Fund, to see if I'm going to have to go back in and ask for additional funding sooner than what Congress is planning on right now."

CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane reports that, according to congressional sources, FEMA could receive enough funding to respond to both Helene and Milton in the near term, but the agency may have to pull back on other long-term response efforts from previous emergencies in other parts of the country.

MacFarlane also reports that the Small Business Administration, which provides disaster loans to homeowners and small businesses, could also run out of money before Congress reconvenes after the November election. 

Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday night near Siesta Key, Florida, the National Hurricane Center said. 

Milton had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it made landfall, making it a "dangerous Category 3 storm," the center said. 

Siesta Key is a barrier island located just south of Sarasota.  

Jeff Masters, a scientist who formerly worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's hurricane hunters, told CBS News that Milton is "going to do unprecedented damage in this part of Florida" despite the fact that its winds have weakened from Category 5 to Category 3.

"Some of the biggest catastrophes in hurricane history were from weakening storms," Masters said. "Katrina was weakening as it was approaching the shore and it caused $190 billion in damage. It was a Cat 3 at landfall and it was formerly a Cat 5. Well, here we have another former Cat 5 that's going to be a Cat 3 at landfall, and the storm surge is baked in. It's going to come ashore, it's going to be 8 to 13 feet [of storm surge] along an 80-mile stretch along a very heavily populated coast." 

Watch more of his interview in the video below:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told CBS News Wednesday evening that state authorities are "absolutely" prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Milton.

"We've got 50,000 linemen staged, ready for rapid power restoration," DeSantis said. "We also have a full mobilization of the Florida National Guard, as well as receiving a lot of assets from other states, so it will be the largest search and rescue function that we've ever done."

The governor said that "by and large, people heeded the call" to evacuate.

He said the state's shelters have "plenty of room," noting that they are designed to withstand a Category 3 storm.

"Look, at this point, if you're in the west coast of Florida, it's probably too dangerous to go to a shelter," DeSantis said. "But one of the things we've done in Florida is stress that, when you shelter, you don't have to get on the interstate and drive hundreds of miles. We have places, even in the counties that are in the eye of the storm, that are inland, that are not susceptible to storm surge, but that are hurricane-proof."

DeSantis also addressed misinformation that has circulated online about relief efforts for both hurricanes Milton and Helene, calling it "nonsense."

"I think there's some people out there, we live in an age where you can monetize a lot of this nonsense online," DeSantis said. "You can get a lot of clicks, but that is not true in Florida. So, we're going to do it right, your property is going to be protected. And we're going to make sure that you get back on your feet."

County officials in Sarasota and in the city of St. Petersburg took to social media Wednesday afternoon to warn residents to stay indoors and take precautions as storm conditions intensify. 

"It is no longer safe to be on the roadways.  Individuals SHOULD NOT go out on the roadways.  They should now SHELTER IN PLACE," the Sarasota County Government posted on the social media platform X. "There are reports of flooding and it is not safe to be out on the road for the duration of the storm."

In the city of St. Petersburg, first responder operations have been paused. "For the safety of our police, fire, and medical teams, they will not be able to respond to emergency calls until it is safe to operate," the city said on X. "Please stay indoors, take shelter, and call 911 only in case of emergencies. We'll resume operations as soon as weather conditions allow."

The city also made the decision to shut down water treatment plants and urged residents to limit water use. 

"The City of St. Petersburg made the difficult decision to turn off power at the Northeast and Southwest Sewer Treatment Plants to protect employees and the treatment plants from potential storm surge from Hurricane Milton," the city said. "Starting at 7 p.m., impacted residents/businesses are encouraged to limit water usage. Please avoid taking showers, doing laundry, or washing dishes as much as possible. Please flush toilets only as necessary as the toilet may not drain."

In Manatee County, which includes the city of Bradenton, officials also suspended emergency services. "911 emergency calls will be logged and queued based on priority and will be responded to as soon as safe to do so," the county said on X. 

CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan says Milton is currently forecast to make landfall between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET Wednesday night, if the storm's directional speed remains the same. Milton is expected to be a Category 3 at landfall, and had wind speeds of 120 mph as of the most recent update from the National Hurricane Center.

The northern eyewall of Hurricane Milton began moving ashore around 7 p.m. ET Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The center warned those in the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas to shelter in place as "extremely dangerous hurricane-force winds" were spreading through the area.

While many residents evacuated, staff at ZooTampa at Lowry Park made preparations to ride out the storm with the zoo's residents.

ZooTampa's Tiffany Burns, senior director of animal programs, told CBS News that preparations for the zoo's animals started days ago and about 12 staff members are ready to stay with their charges. 

"We have a very comprehensive plan that we check all throughout the year and after we go through a storm, we modify and make sure we learn from each storm," she said.

Of the zoo's approximately 1,000 animals, about 300-400 were moved into secure buildings on the zoo site, she said. For a lot of the primates, carnivores and elephants, the buildings are the same ones they're in each night — their "night houses," she said, part of the habitats that were built to be hurricane-safe.

But for animals like birds, skunks and some antelope species, "that can be very different," she said. Some, like porcupines, will be in the night houses with the larger animals who aren't used to seeing them.

"It'll be a little bit of an adventure for everyone," she said.

As Hurricane Milton advances on Florida, many iPhone users in the state will have an option for staying connected with loved ones even if the monster storm takes down cell service in the region. 

Apple's recently introduced mobile operating system, iOS 18, lets iPhone customers send text messages via satellite, as well as contact emergency services, without a Wi-Fi connection. You need an iPhone 14 or newer model equipped with iOS 18 to use the feature, according to Apple. 

Read more here.

President Biden spoke about Hurricane Milton ahead of its expected landfall and assured Florida residents and others who have been impacted by the recent storms, "We've got your back." He said his administration would offer support "for as long as it takes to rescue, recover and rebuild."

Mr. Biden said Milton is expected to be "one of the most and worst destructive hurricanes to hit Florida in over a century," despite being downgraded to a Category 3 storm.

Read more here.

According to the National Hurricane Center, here are the watches and warnings in effect for Milton as of 5 p.m. EDT:

Storm surge warning

• Florida west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay
• Sebastian Inlet, Florida, to Altamaha Sound, Georgia, including the St. Johns River

Hurricane warning

• Florida west coast from Bonita Beach northward to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay
• Florida east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin county line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach

Hurricane watch

• Lake Okeechobee
• Florida east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin county line to the Palm Beach/Martin county line

Tropical storm warning

• Florida Keys, including Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay
• Lake Okeechobee
• Florida west coast from Flamingo to south of Bonita Beach
• Florida west coast from north of Suwanee River to Indian Pass
• Florida east coast south of the St. Lucie/Martin county line to Flamingo
• North of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to Edisto Beach, South Carolina
• Extreme northwestern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama Island, the Abacos, and Bimini

The National Weather Service issued a warning Wednesday afternoon that it was time for residents to shelter in place as Hurricane Milton neared. Tropical-storm force winds, flooding rains and tornadoes were spreading inland across Florida, the weather service said, and unless a life-threatening situation arises, people should stay indoors.

National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said the hurricane is here: "I urge those in harm's way to continue heeding advice from local officials and please be safe!"

Hurricane Milton was downgraded to a Category 3 storm Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph as of 4 p.m. EDT, which the hurricane center still considers to be a major hurricane.

Milton caused a string of tornadic supercell storms to develop in Florida's southern peninsula Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said, and at least a handful appeared to actually produce tornadoes.

Images shared to social media by the National Weather Service in Miami captured one of the ominous twisters looming in the background after it crossed Interstate 75 at around 10 a.m. EDT.

The weather service shared another image of a "multi-vortex" tornado moving ashore from Lake Okeechobee less than two hours later.

Tornado warnings were ongoing across a large section of the state, and a tornado watch was issued through 9 p.m. for parts of South Florida and the Gulf Coast, including Fort Myers and Naples, CBS News Miami reported.

In the southeastern Florida county of St. Lucie, there were "multiple reports of tornadoes touching down," county spokesperson Erick Gill told CBS News by email Wednesday evening.

Gill said officials still had no estimate on the possible number of injuries from the tornadoes, or the number of homes that may have been damaged. 

This radar loop from CBS Miami shows weather conditions from Hurricane Milton.

Floridians fleeing Hurricane Milton faced shortages at gas stations in addition to congested roads.

As of midday Wednesday, 24% of Florida's 7,912 gas stations were without fuel, according to data from GasBuddy, which tracks filling stations around the U.S.

"Best bets for motorists evacuating that need fuel: major travel stops have larger underground tanks and have more resources generally — trucks and drivers," tweeted Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "Or large chains as well that have many locations. Fuel is flowing but stations are having a hard time keeping up."

Read more here.

Hundreds of flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled as Milton barreled toward Florida's western coast.

Most of the cancellations were for flights to or from Florida, where some airports closed ahead of the hurricane.

Airlines announced they are issuing travel waivers to customers affected by Milton, as well as adding flights in an effort to help people who were trying to evacuate.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines have all issued waivers for travelers who had booked flights into or out of Florida airports. The waivers allow them to rebook their flights free of charge.

Read more here.

People fled the Tampa Bay area and parts of the surrounding region were under mandatory evacuation orders issued Monday and Tuesday.

But not everyone has complied with those directives.

"There will be fatalities," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday. "I don't think there's any way around that when you have 10 feet of storm surge. There are going to be people who stay behind, and they're going to be in distress."

Officials have set up 149 shelters across Florida that are open to the general population, with enough capacity to hold around 200,000, the governor said. But just 31,000 people were using those shelters as of Tuesday night.

Photos and videos taken from space show the breadth of Hurricane Milton.

Multiple timelapse videos taken by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick show the storm from the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Dominick is a flight engineer aboard the orbiting laboratory, which is attached to the International Space Station. In one post on social media, Dominick said that he had a view of the storm from the window in his sleeping quarters.

The timelapse he shared through that window on Wednesday morning showed the storm as it approached Florida's western coast. He noted that the storm looked even bigger than it had the day before.

See more here.

Milton is the quickest storm on record to rapidly intensify into a Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico, according to CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan. On Sunday, the system was a tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 mph. Just 24 hours later, the wind speeds had leapt to 175 mph, far above the Category 5 threshold of 157 mph.

Rapid intensification refers to a storm's wind speeds increasing by more than 58 mph in a 24-hour window. From 1980 to 2023, 177 Atlantic hurricanes that made landfall have rapidly intensified. About 80% of Category 3-5 hurricanes undergo this process.

Read more here.

Human-caused climate change is making it easier for hurricanes to rapidly intensify into more powerful storms, which often bring more coastal flooding and additional rainfall to areas miles from the coast, according to scientists.

Since April 2023, global sea surface temperatures have been hotter than any other period on record. Hotter oceans fuel stronger storms, and warmer sea surface temperatures amplify evaporation, transferring heat and water to the air, making hurricane winds stronger and increasing the rain they hold.

Waffle House announced that it had closed its locations in several areas ahead of Milton's projected landfall, citing the so-called Waffle House Index as a measure of the storm's severity. 

"These updated #whindex status maps reflect our closures as of 2PM this afternoon in advance of #HurricaneMilton. Please stay safe," Waffle House wrote in a social media post Wednesday morning.

In measuring the severity of a storm, the Waffle House Index has come to be a reliable indicator of whether a hurricane or other natural disaster is likely to cause significant damage. The chain of 1,600 restaurants notes that because its locations are primarily spread across Southern states and the Gulf Coast, they are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, yet it makes an effort to keep them open during all kinds of weather events.

Read more here.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Wednesday that the agency has a "layered approach" to staffing, along with being just one part of the federal government's support mechanisms, amid concerns about resources as the agency prepares for powerful Hurricane Milton as it barrels toward Florida shortly after the deadly Hurricane Helene.

"We're just one part of the team," Criswell said on "CBS Mornings" early Wednesday. "We bring in the whole federal family, the entire federal government to support the efforts that are going on across all of the states that have been impacted by the storm."

Debris from Helene, which made landfall on Sept. 26, is still on the ground in Florida as the state braces for Milton.

Read more here.

Walt Disney is joining other theme parks including SeaWorld and Universal that are closing before Hurricane Milton hits Florida.

Walt Disney parks in Orlando was slated to start shutting down in phases beginning at 1 p.m. Wednesday, with its resorts likely to remain shuttered on Thursday, according to the company. A water park, miniature golf facilities and campgrounds will also be closed.

The Magic Kingdom's announcement came after United Parks and Resorts said it would close its Florida theme parks, including SeaWorld Orlando, on Wednesday and Thursday. Busch Gardens Tampa was closed as of Tuesday and will remain so through Thursday, United Parks said.

Read more here.

President Biden postponed a planned trip to Germany and Angloa to monitor the storm response.

"I've urged everyone, everyone currently located in Hurricane Milton's path to listen to local officials and follow safety instructions," Mr. Biden said Tuesday. "... If you're under evacuation orders, you should evacuate now, now, now — you should have already evacuated. It's a matter of life and death."

Mr. Biden said he preapproved emergency declarations in Florida and had sent FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to Florida on Monday. He also called on airlines and other companies to provide "as much service as possible to accommodate evacuations" and "not to engage in price gouging."

Read more here.