Being felt everywhere. It has come in as a category three storm with 120 mile per hour sustained it went even higher gusts according to the national hurricane center, we are talking to Rental Rain extremely dangerous wind. What is being described is lifethreatening Storm Surges that are now pounding portions of the state. At this hour, a Lifethreatening Flash Flood warning has just been issued for nearly 2 Million people. That includes tampa, saint petersburg, and clearwater. You just saw Bill Weir in st. Petersburg. You could see all of that developing there right now, over half 1 Million homes and businesses have lost power with conditions deteriorating by the minute this storm has also spawned a Record Number of tornadoes, all across the state of florida, far beyond where the storm has actually making direct hit tonight, there have been 19 confirmed tornadoes. So far, the sheriff Of St. Lucie county has just confirmed that there have been multiple fatalities after an outbreak of tor
Fort myers beach, in florida. You can see those high winds and heavy rains beginning to lash the coast there in fort myers. You can see how much the camera is shaking with the wind there, and obviously large waves warned of Storm Surges and rising water levels, as you can see coming up over the beach and onto the barriers, and beyond. This is from a short time ago in fort myers. You can see the before and after of water coming up over this hotel pool. Quite dramatic there. And just to show how dangerous this storm is, even with the storm still offshore, it is already causing damage. It has spawned several tornadoes which have been reported in the state, including in Areas that are seeing flooding. This is a home in fort myers that was hit by one of those tornadoes. You can see the roof is ripped off and the interior already destroyed, and the hurricane itself hasnt even arrived. These pictures from space give you a sense of the size of the monster storm. Its bringing winds of up to 120
Its looking like the storm of the century. Everbody is woried about the same thing, you know, do i have a home to come back to . Norah and hundred thousands are without power with near the eighth quarter of Floridas Gas stations out of fuel. This hurricane is going to pack a major, major punch. Norah our interview with four to governor Ron Desantis from inside the states Command Center. The Cbs Evening News starts now. Good evening. Im Norah Odonnell in washington, along with vladimir duthiers, who is leading our team of correspondents in the path of vladimir duthiers, who i thank you for joining us. And as we come on the air, we are getting new information about this monster storm. A major category three closing in on landfall earlier than expected, along floridas central Gulf Coast. Millions are bracing for impact. Now the latest track just in has the Eye Of The Storm hitting the sarasota area. That is just south of tampa, a region that hasnt had a hurricane this powerfl in more than
Going to be different . And so the difference between what theyre used to and what this will be, as a way to, hopefully, give them more encouragement to know that they need to get out . Thank you, Madam Vice President. Yes, we are emphasizing the Size And Intensity of the storm and the direction at which its approaching which is unusual and really raises that Storm Surge Risk for the West Coast of florida. We typically see hurricanes approach the West Coast of florida from the South Or Southeast parallel to the coast. This track, more perpendicular to the coast raises the Storm Surge Risk. And the size of the storm is going to produce hazardous impacts across much of the peninsula. So, weve been hitting the surge risks on both coasts, and flooding and tornadoes, trying to emphasize the Scale And Breadth of the threat which is somewhat unusual for milton. Thank you. Thank you for your good work. Mike, one more question yes, sir. For people listening, what is the width from the state of