close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • Florida left with a trail of destruction
    news

    Florida left with a trail of destruction

    Vaseline Posted on

    play

    TAMPA, Fla. – Hurricane Milton roared across the Florida Panhandle Thursday, tearing a path of destruction from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean as it flooded neighborhoods, destroyed homes, tore the roof off a major sports complex and destroyed a massive crane collapsed into the ground. an office building.

    In downtown Tampa, high winds knocked down traffic lights, uprooted signs and blew construction barricades across wet roads early Thursday. Milton’s winds also tore off plywood meant to keep out the storm, and part of the brick facade of a downtown building collapsed, partially blocking a road.

    But Tampa Bay was apparently spared a massive storm surge, instead experiencing a reverse storm surge that pushed water away from the coastline.

    Milton made landfall on the state’s west coast late Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph amid a flurry of tornadoes it spawned. The system left the state early Thursday near Cape Canaveral, still at Category 1 hurricane strength and packing winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. update.

    At least two deaths were reported at a nursing home after a suspected tornado in Fort Pierce on the state’s east coast, NBC News reported, citing St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson. More than 3 million homes and businesses were dark early Thursday, according to power outage data from USA TODAY.

    There was flash flooding in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the hurricane center said, after parts of the area were hit with more than 18 inches of rain on Wednesday.

    The eye of the storm made landfall on Siesta Key, a barrier island near Sarasota, about 60 miles (90 kilometers) south of Tampa. Milton’s powerful attack comes two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit the Florida coast, on its way to devastating communities in seven states.

    Developments

    ∎ Oil prices rose on Thursday due to a spike in fuel demand, the impact of Milton in Florida and concerns about possible supply disruptions in the Middle East due to heightened tensions between Israel and major oil producer Iran. The storm has already boosted demand for gasoline in the state, with about a quarter of gas stations selling out, helping to support crude oil prices.

    ∎ Taylor Swift has donated $5 million to hurricane relief efforts for Helene and Milton victims, the nonprofit Feeding America announced.

    Officials said late Wednesday that a crane collapsed near a construction site in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the crane left a gaping hole in an office building that houses several businesses, including the newspaper. No injuries were immediately reported.

    “The public is urged to continue to shelter in place” but avoid the area, the city of St. Petersburg said in a statement.

    “We can confirm that one crane cabin fell into the upper part of the mast,” said John Catsimatidis, the CEO of Red Apple Group, which is developing the skyscraper, the Times reported. “We are working with city officials and others to assess the situation.”

    Milton lashed the Tampa Bay area with high winds and heavy rain after making landfall late Wednesday. Officials in St. Petersburg, Florida, confirmed that destructive winds damaged the roof of Tropicana Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays. The ballpark was repurposed as a base camp for thousands of first responders as Florida braced for Milton. Footage from local television stations and photos shared on social media showed part of the stadium’s roof being torn off by strong winds.

    The domed stadium has been home to the Tampa Bay Rays since the team’s inaugural season in 1998, although there are plans to replace it in 2028. It is one of the smallest MLB stadiums in terms of seating capacity, but Tropicana Field has a sloped roof that is designed at a partial angle to better protect it from hurricanes.

    − Thao Nguyen, Eric Lagatta

    Reported tornadoes tore through parts of Southwest Florida on Wednesday, including in Collier County and Lee County, and caused extensive damage in Fort Myers and Cape Coral.

    North Fort Myers resident Scott Fincher sat with his family on the porch of his community center in Pine Lakes, waiting for Milton. While they waited, they passed the time by watching the local news, which reported on the “tornado outbreak.”

    Reporters then announced that a tornado was headed toward the sister community of Lake Fairways, which shares a border with Pine Lakes. Then Fincher knew: they had to hide.

    Fincher immediately began moving everyone in the house: his wife, his sister-in-law, and his dog. “Just as we were getting everyone in, it came through,” Fincher said, “and then I heard the rumbling.”

    “It was a black wall,” Fincher said. “It was as black as it could be. . . I felt fear. You could feel the ground shaking a little bit, the house and everything.”

    − Kate Cimini, Fort Myers News-Press

    Hurricane Milton could cause losses of as much as $100 billion for the global insurance industry, triggering a surge in reinsurance prices in 2025 that could boost the shares of some insurance companies, analysts said Wednesday.

    Milton, which slammed into Florida’s already storm-hit west coast Wednesday evening, spawned at least 19 tornadoes and caused damage in numerous counties, destroying about 125 homes, most of them mobile homes, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

    “Right now it’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you need to shelter in place and just hunker down,” DeSantis said in announcing the landfall.

    Milton’s insured losses could range from $60 billion to $100 billion if the hurricane makes direct landfall in the densely populated Tampa area, Morningstar DBRS analysts said. A $100 billion loss would put Milton on par with Katrina in 2005, she said, adding that insured losses would likely be “substantial but not catastrophic.”

    Contributions: Reuters

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like