A visual guide to the damage caused by Hurricane Milton | Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm brought heavy rains, flooding, tornadoes, storm surges and strong winds for about eight hours before moving over the ocean north of Cape Canaveral as a Category 1 hurricane.

The hardest-hit areas included Sarasota, Fort Myers, St. Petersburg, St. Lucie and other Gulf Coast cities. Storm surge warnings were in effect along the east coast of Florida to Altamaha Sound in Georgia.

Hurricane Milton caused destruction in cities on the west, central and east coasts of Florida.

Officials reported downed trees, storm surges, flooding, destroyed homes, damaged roads, downed power lines, as well as damage to infrastructure, power and water systems and more.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, nine deaths had been reported, although search and rescue operations had just begun.

Officials have warned that around 11 million people are at risk of flash floods and river flooding after historic amounts of rain fell in some parts of the state. St. Petersburg experienced approximately 18 inches of flooding as well as localized flooding. St. John's County also experienced “widespread flooding,” causing some roads to become impassable, officials said.

While search and rescue efforts continued Thursday morning, initial reports indicate that about 125 homes were destroyed, mostly mobile homes in senior living communities.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 3.3 million Floridians were without power.

Tornadoes

Milton also “sparked a lot of tornadoes in the affected areas,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday. “We expect there will be confirmed fatalities from the tornadoes, and that was the case along the entire east coast of Florida,” he added.

Four deaths were reported in St. Lucie County on Florida's Atlantic coast as a result of multiple tornadoes that touched down there on Wednesday, officials said.

Several hours before Milton made landfall, the National Weather Service in Miami reported at least seven tornadoes and 53 tornado warnings were issued, 41 of them from the weather service in Miami.

Videos and images posted online Wednesday showed several spotted tornadoes growing larger as they moved through South Florida.

Storm surge

Although the severe storm surges that authorities had predicted before Milton's arrival may not have been as bad as forecast, some areas, such as parts of Sarasota County, recorded a storm surge of 8 to 10 feet.

On Thursday, DeSantis also said that while the “storm was significant … fortunately this was not the worst-case scenario,” adding that “the storm weakened prior to landfall and the overall storm surge did not, as originally reported.” “was severe as previously observed for Hurricane Helene.”

Storm surge, the rise in sea water levels caused by a storm, can often pose the greatest threat to life and property during a hurricane and can result in significant flooding.

The increase is mainly caused by storm winds pushing water onto land. When a hurricane approaches a coast, the winds push the seawater onto land, and the storm's atmospheric pressure also helps push the water onto land. The shallower the continental shelf, the greater the risk of a dangerous tidal wave, and the tidal wave becomes even more dangerous if it coincides with the high tide.

Water is heavy — about 1,700 pounds (770 kg) per cubic yard (0.76 cubic meters) — and it can move quickly in a gush, sweeping people to their deaths, tossing boats and vehicles, and pulverizing buildings. The currents created by tides, along with the waves, can also cause severe erosion of beaches and coastal roads.

Six inches of fast-moving water is enough to knock over an adult, the National Hurricane Center says. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused storm surges of more than 25 feet along the Mississippi coast, directly or indirectly killing up to 1,500 people.

Climate connection

Hurricane Milton was the second deadly hurricane in two weeks to hit the state of Florida, as hurricanes become more intense and dangerous due to the climate crisis caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels, experts say.

According to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, sea levels are expected to rise by 29 to 82 cm by the end of the century as the sea continues to warm.

The study says sea level rise will make storm surges during hurricanes more devastating.

Because greenhouse gases help trap heat in the atmosphere, they also help the oceans reach record temperatures.

Additionally, hurricanes are becoming increasingly violent and intense because the heat is unusually high in the Gulf of Mexico, where many of these storms develop. The extra heat acts as a kind of fuel for hurricanes, quickly turning them into severe storms.

Researchers have found that the number of storms escalating into Category 4 or 5 hurricanes with winds of at least 131 miles per hour (210 km/h) has roughly doubled in the North Atlantic since the 1970s.

“Historically, if you look back, storms have strengthened more slowly than they do today,” said Phil Klotzbach, a researcher at Colorado State University who specializes in hurricane forecasting.