Oct. 10 (UPI) — Hurricane Milton made landfall near Sarasota along Florida’s west coast Wednesday night, knocking out power nearly 2 million people. Fatalities and injuries were reported. The storm came ashore near Siesta Key in Sarasota County at about 8:30 p.m. EDT as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.
As of 12 a.m. Thursday, more than 1.8 million in the Sunshine State were without power, according to Poweroutage.us.
“As Hurricane Milton makes landfall Sarasota county, now is the time to shelter in place,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on X just prior to Milton coming ashore. “First responders are staged and ready to go, as soon as weather conditions allow. Search and rescue efforts will be well underway to save lives before dawn, and they will continue for as long as it takes.”
Officials in Martin County, located on the eastern coast of Florida between Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie, said dozens of homes have been damaged, some severely, and a number of both minor and serious injuries have been reported.
The storm had devastating effects even prior to landfall, with St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson confirming to local media “multiple fatalities” after a tornado tore through the Spanish Lakes Country Club senior community.
Deputies are going door to door, he said, checking on residents.
“They are listening for life,” he said. “This is a weather event like none other.”
On Facebook, he said in a recorded statement that a tornado had destroyed a 10,000-square-foot red iron building at the sheriff’s office that shelters their patrol cars.
In Palm Beach County, the local fire rescue department said in a statement that 911 calls started to come in juste before 5 p.m. following multiple reports of tornadoes.
Firefighters transported five people, including three people suffering from trauma injuries, to hospitals where there were multiple walk-in patients with minor injuries.