Hurricane Milton was a Category 3 storm that hit near Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday night October 9th.
Milton moved across the Florida peninsula and out over the Atlantic Ocean. This storm took place less than two weeks after the devastating Hurricane Helene. The devastation seemed limitless and the landscape was littered with metal and debris marking a sad toll of back-to-back hurricanes.
Hurricane Milton was the second most intense, Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico. The most intense hurricane was Rita in 2005.
Hurricane Milton formed from a tropical disturbance that was originated in the Caribbean Sea in the west and consolidated in the bay of Campeche on October 5. The storm, then gradually intensified and slowly moved eastward becoming an early hurricane on October 7.
Later in that day, Milton experienced an explosive intensification and then became a Category 5 storm. Hurricane Milton had winds as high as 180 miles per hour. Its peak intensity had a pressure of 897 millibars. With winds that high Hurricane Milton became the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record.
Throughout the day, Hurricane Milton weakened to a Category 4, but soon was upgraded back to a Cat 5 due to increasing wind shear. The hurricane weakened as it made its way Northeast towards Florida making it a Category 3 hurricane when it hit on October 9 in Siesta Key.
Preparing for the hurricane, Florida declared a state of emergency where many coastal residents were ordered to evacuate and preparations were taken on Mexico peninsula.
Hurricane Milton also spawned a tornado which caused widespread flooding in Florida. As of October 21, 2024 Hurricane Milton killed at least 33 people that were confirmed. Thirty deaths were confirmed in the Unites States and three from Mexico. The damages caused by Hurricane Milton estimate to be over $30 billion.
