Hurricane Milton was downgraded to Category 1 early Thursday after battering Florida’s Gulf Coast as a major Category 3 storm late Wednesday.
Milton had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida at 8:30 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said.
The devastating hurricane brought dangerous storm surge along Florida’s Gulf Coast including Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, and St. Petersburg where winds ripped the roof of Tropicana Field to shreds.
Deaths and causalities were also reported shortly after Milton triggered two dozens of tornadoes in St. Lucie County where officials had to suspend rescue efforts due to extreme conditions.
“We are not going to get into how many, but I can tell you it’s more than one person who has lost their life that we already recovered,” Sheriff Keith Pearson said.
