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
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
Biggest storm of the century could make landfall within the hour. Live images from st. Petersburg on your screen right now, you see our Bill Weir there in that picture. Hell be with us in a Moment Hurricane Milton now on a much faster track toward land, expected to hit florida with 150 mile an Hour Wind gusts and a destructive Storm Surge. Conditions deteriorating by the minute officials now saying it is no longer safe to be outside. And lets show you what it looks like On The Roads already flooded right now, the Monster Storm, one of the most powerful on records still growing after nearly doubling in size in just 24 hours absolutely incredible new Satellite Images here on your screen. The Lightning Strikes from a storm that officials warn james the coastline of florida forever. And right now, Tropical Storm Winds now stretch its more than 300 miles from that. I and lets just show you some of the pictures of what it looks like about 40 miles from the eye in the gulf. Some of these wave
Washington. A fox news alert. A massive hurricane that could be the most destructive in the history of the country is about to slam into florida. Hurricane milton could make landfall as early as 8 00 p. M. Eastern, exactly one hour from now. Now, the national Weather Service says the window to evacuate has closed. Shelter in place now. Tampa, Fort Myers and orlando are all expected to face lifethreatening impacts. Tornadoes have already been seen and many of floridas West Coast beaches are at risk as well of being wiped out. Now, first responders in st. Petersburg have paused all operations. Not responding to any emergencies until it is safe to do so. We will bring you conch from across the state but, first, we start in Brayden Ton Florida where Fox Weather Robert ray is standing by, robert . Yeah. Laura, good evening to you. And you see the Manatee River behind me that is raging with up to 80 mileperhour winds that have occurred here in this part of the Gulf Coast. We are not too far
The evacuation process. It wasnt easy, first Off. There was a lot Of different variables, a lot Of different factors that came into that decision. One Of them was financial. Really dont know if we can come back or not. You know, if the Storm Hits really bad, you know, our area might be fine, but the pathway back down the home might not be. And to risk not having that cheque every week that we, you know, depend on, could just be a major issue down the line as well. Some people would think that maybe thats just the wrong way Of thinking, but its really hard to leave everything behind, pack everything up, take, you know, yourfamily, your friends, animals and just trying to, you know, go wherever is safe. On top Of that, if we were to have left, we would have needed to go two or three days ago, according to many Of the people reporting the storm. I know the governor has said different things and other Officials have said, you know, youre still safe to go. But there was also reports, you kn