That Storm Surge could be the worst part of this storm. So we will be on that during this hour. Ill be watching. Thanks alex. Thank you. We are going straight to bill karins. Msnbcs meteorologist. Nbc News Meteorologist for the latest on the situation there. Bill, what can we expect now in florida . This is when all the damage is happening. We cant show you where the worst Storm Surge is. But we know it is moving in. We have had reports of a ten foot Storm Surge in sarasota. As we go down the coast, all the way to naples, its been at least five to six foot Storm Surge. That is higher than helene in most cases so we have new significant damage that is being done tonight. As the storm is moving inland. The winds are still pushing that water against the coast. It is still rushing in. The other thing you will notice, the black line is the center. Just north of the center which has been the past five hours over tampa, torrential rain. We are talking two to three inches per hour. Now that is
Out of florida, millions of people under threat from Monster Size Hurricane milton. That powerful Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles an hour has come ashore. The eyewall made landfall half an hour ago in siesta key, which is a Barrier Island off of the coast of sarasota. Right now, the storm with a diameter of 450 miles, is bringing lifethreatening winds and potentially devastating Storm Surge up to 13 feet. Earlier today, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, noaa, took steal drones on the gulf of mexico. They showed 40 nautical miles away from meltons eye, the winds were gusting 76 miles an hour and waves were cresting up at 28 feet high. That powerful storm is hitting land. For those not in the eyewalls direct path, there is reason to be vigilant as much of florida is under a tropical Storm Watch or warning. The national Weather Service also issued warnings in parts of south and central florida, where milton has spawned 10 tornadoes. Airports,
Begin only two hours from now conditions in the Hurricane Strike Zone are growing much more dangerous by the minute. As milton unleashes ferocious winds torrential rains, and a slew of destructive tornadoes. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world im Wolf Blitzer a youre in the Situation Room were following every angle of the major Breaking News in florida right now Hurricane Milton taking aim at the Tampa Bay Region and now on a faster track toward a devastating landfall, this Monster Storm is posing a grave and urgent danger and residents who havent escaped Miltons Path are being warned. Its not too late to get out cnn teams are fanned out all along Floridas Gulf Coast and areas bracing for the worst of this storm our chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir is on the scene in st. Petersburg, florida. Bill, whats the latest from where you are of the pier here in st. Pete. As you can see, these waves are just starting to breach the Seawall Weve been watchin
Hurried preparations, theres also a new worry. Limited resources. Gas stations literally running on empty, and Grocery Store shelves picked clean. Nbcs marisa is joining us from tampa. Jay gray is standing by in ft. Myers. And Meteorologist Michelle Grossman is tracking the storm for us. The track of this storm has shifted slightly since yesterday. Where do we expect landfall now . Yeah, this has kind of wobbled back and forth, ten miles north or south. As we go throughout time, we are anticipating that westcentral u. S. Coast impact on The State Of Florida. We are looking at a category 4 storm. This is catastrophic. People are going to lose homes. Theres a threat to life and property. So were going to watch this very closely, we are about 16 hours away from landfall. Were looking at winds of 155 miles per hour. Yes, it weakened to a category 4, but keep in mind a Category 5 is 157 miles per hour, so this is a very strong category 4 strong. Its heading northeast at 6 miles per hour, no
Coast in a few hours. Tonight, milton expected to bring a mix of Storm Surge, high winds and Power Outages to communities across florida. More than 1 Million people are under Evacuation Orders with local officials urging people in vulnerable zones to get to safety now. If you were as blunt as we have seen a public official be. If people stay in the Evacuation Zones and try to ride it out, they will die. Is that still your message this morning . Wherever that Storm Surge comes, if its 10 to 15 feet and people are trying to ride this out in singlestory structures, theres no place to go. At any moment we expect to hear from President Biden and Vice President harris on the federal response. Al roker is here joining me with the latest on Miltons Path. Our Reporting Team is bringing us the latest from the ground. President biden speaking with Netanyahu Today for the first time in nearly seven weeks. Expecting to learn more about israels plans for targeting iran. Again, trying to prevent esca