Barreling down the Gulf Coast straight into floridas West Coast. 120mileanhour winds and violent Water Pummeling the bridge. And this is santa Bell Island where floodwaters appear to be swallowing a house. And in Fort Myers, a tornado rips through neighbourhoods, obliterating properties. The winds are ferocious, the storm churches unstoppable and floridians are worried. Lets go to her senior correspondent in tampa. Steve . Jesse, we see rain come down in sheets. The wind is starting to pick up as well, we could see anywhere from 616 inches of rain here that has been going steady for the past six hours. The Storm Surge is another concern here in the tampa area. This could be a Worstcase Scenario depending on where the storm actually makes landfall. We could see up to 10 feet of Storm Surge here, anywhere from 15 feet along other parts and along the coast. When it gets over 40 miles per hour, they cannot come out and rescue and right now it seems to be hovering right about that range. Th
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,
More than A Million people have been ordered to evacuate floridas West Coast ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton. Its currently a category five storm, packing ferocious winds of up to 270 kilometres an hour. Forecasters say the storm is expected to make landfall in the next day, and that it has the potential to be one of the most destructive ever recorded in the region. The storm follows less than two weeks after another devastating hurricane, helene. Meteorologists say the damage done by the recent hurricane could leave the area more vulnerable to this far larger storm, as Sand Dunes have been blown away, and debris could act as projectiles. Steve knibbs has the latest a siren on the streets of Redington Shores in florida. Debris still piled up the Storm Helen two weeks ago now people told they have to leave again. Mandatory Evacuation Orders in place for 6 Million people as Hurricane Milton coaches many going to safety is authorities warm Storm Surges could be up to 15 feet. Wit
People are being urged to leave coastal and low lying areas of florida as Hurricane Milton, expected to be the biggest storm to hit the area in a century, moves closer to the states West Coast. President biden has warned evacuating is a matter of life and death. These pictures are coming into us live from the state of florida. This is the sunshine skyway bridge, the gateway to Tampa Bay, normally a very busy road even early in the day but pretty much deserted now, clearly very exposed and certainly not somewhere anyone would want to be as the hurricane approaches. Although those winds and rain not being really fully felt yet, if we look at this picture of some Palm Trees you can see they are moving a little bit in the breeze but those winds will get stronger and stronger. The national Hurricane Center saying that milton is bringing sustained winds of around 155 miles per hour, as we look at this track. It was downgraded a short while ago to a Category Fourfrom Category short while ago