Tornadoes hit Florida ahead of Milton as storm leaves deaths and widespread blackouts

# Tornadoes hit Florida ahead of Milton as storm leaves deaths and widespread blackouts

Several tornadoes were reported in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall, including along Interstate 75, as the storm brought a destructive mix of wind, flooding and storm surge warnings. The BBC report says deaths were confirmed in St Lucie County on the state's east coast, though the full toll was not immediately clear.

Milton made landfall near Siesta Key as a category three hurricane, described by the US National Hurricane Center as extremely dangerous. The storm then weakened to category two but continued to batter the state with strong winds and flash flooding. More than 2 million homes and businesses lost power.

The tornadoes appear to have caused the earliest fatalities. The St Lucie County sheriff told the BBC there had been multiple tornadoes in the community and that lives had been lost. The report says cars were flipped and moved hundreds of yards in the Spanish Lakes neighbourhood, where officers used bulldozers and other equipment to search for survivors and recover people who needed help.

The broader storm response shows the scale of the threat. Millions fled the state on Wednesday as flash flood, tornado and storm surge warnings piled up. Governor Ron DeSantis warned that the time for safe evacuation had passed before landfall, while President Joe Biden said Milton would likely be one of the most destructive hurricanes in a century.

The power outages were equally dramatic. Poweroutage.us estimated that more than 2 million customers were without electricity as winds knocked over lines and flooded communities. Entire neighbourhoods went dark. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for much of the state, including the Tampa Bay region and parts of central and eastern Florida.

The BBC report also noted that Milton came only two weeks after Hurricane Helene, which had killed at least 225 people across several states. That earlier disaster meant Florida and the wider Gulf Coast entered Milton already under strain, with emergency responders and residents still dealing with the recovery from the previous storm.

As the hurricane continued inland, emergency services warned it was too dangerous to answer calls until the storm passed. Nearly 10,000 National Guard members were deployed and large quantities of food and water were staged for the recovery effort. Even at reduced intensity, Milton remained a major hurricane threat as it crossed the state.

The tornadoes matter because they show how hurricanes can kill before the eye of the storm even arrives. In this case, the severe weather was not a single hazard but a cluster of them: wind, surge, flooding and tornadoes all arriving in quick succession. That is what made Milton so dangerous before, during and after landfall.