Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday night around 8:30 p.m. as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour near Siesta Key in Sarasota County.
Milton spawned scores of tornadoes and left more than 3 million utility customers without power. The AP reports at least five people died due to Milton's impacts.
Hurricane Milton’s power diminished significantly as it approached the peninsula, as compared to what was being projected as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico. At one point the storm peaked at 180 mph and storm surge predictions up and down the west coast of Florida ranged from 8 to 15 feet.
While there has been significant flooding along the coast — and hundreds of thousands of people remain without power — Milton did not turn out to be as damaging as projections showed as it approached the peninsula. We debrief the storm with a meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. We also check in with someone from Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall. And we check in with FPL and LCEC to see how their power systems fared and how many people are still without power.
Guests:
Tim Miller, Director of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN) and Chief Meteorologist at University of Florida
Sara Neely, media relations officer with Sarasota County
Mike Mazur, FPL spokesperson
Shannon Williamson, LCEC PR Supervisor
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