Thursday, October 10, 2024, 07:15
‘Milton’ crosses Florida and leaves in its wake a trail of destroyed houses, flash floods and blackouts due to downed power lines. There is still no number of victims, although in St. Lucie County, to the east, a tornado devastated a community where seniors reside, leaving “multiple deaths,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The hurricane, which became a surprising phenomenon for its festructive capacity while crossing the Gulf of Mexico, dropped from category 5 to 3 when it touched down last night in Siesta Key, in Sarasota County, a few kilometers beyond Tampa, where the first blow was initially planned. It reached the west coast around eight-thirty in the afternoon (2:30 this Thursday morning in Spain) with gusts of 190 kilometers per hour and left 600,000 customers without electricity in a matter of minutes.
As it advances, the cyclone is increasing its intensity this morning. There are already almost two million subscribers who suffer the blackout. A body of 50,000 electricians from all over the United States has already begun working, in the midst of the gusts, to try to replace the lines as soon as possible.
The Hurricane Center has reported that the hurricane has reduced its power, but has increased its mass so the affected area will be greater. Now of concern are storm surges that have begun dumping large amounts of Gulf water into communities on the central and west coast. In some of them, the waves have surpassed the dikes and there is flooding in the streets and, above all, the garages, as is the case in Tampa itself.
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