EBN- Hurricane Milton swept across the coast of Florida on Wednesday night, bringing strong winds, heavy rains and flooding, beginning a long and brutal night for residents of an area hit just two weeks ago by another devastating hurricane.
The destruction was described by some to Alhurra as “unprecedented.” Cars were visible on the streets, some of which were damaged by the force of the hurricane. Others documented scenes of roofs of houses, electricity poles, and trees falling and being torn down due to the strength and intensity of the winds accompanying the hurricane.
Milton, which has been packing “extreme winds” and heavy rain since making landfall, has caused “sudden” floods that have destroyed homes and damaged roads, and has left at least 2.5 million homes without electricity, according to the specialist website Power Outage.
Four deaths reported
Local authorities announced four deaths on the east coast of Florida due to Hurricane Milton.
The National Hurricane Center said in a bulletin issued at 8:30 p.m. (00:30 GMT Thursday) that Milton made landfall as an “extremely dangerous” Category 3 hurricane on a five-step scale.
Milton made landfall on Florida’s west coast “near Siesta Key in the Sarasota area,” the National Hurricane Center said in its advisory at 20:30 local time (00:30 GMT Thursday).
Milton was downgraded to a Category 1 storm on Thursday morning, but the National Hurricane Center still considers it a “strong storm.” President Joe Biden warned Wednesday evening that Milton was expected to be “one of the most destructive hurricanes in a century in Florida.”
Milton arrived just two weeks after Helene, a devastating storm that hit Florida and other southeastern states, causing widespread destruction and heavy human losses.
Hurricanes are common in Florida, the third most populous state and a major tourist destination.
But climate change, by raising sea temperatures, is rapidly increasing the strength of hurricanes and the risk of extreme events, scientists say.
