Hurricane Milton blasted ashore in Florida Wednesday night with furious winds, life-threatening rain and storm surge, as people who endured another hurricane just two weeks ago braced for a long, violent night.
The "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm made landfall near Siesta Key, in a densely populated area on the state's western coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Thursday) bulletin.
"So the storm is here. It's time for every one to hunker down," Governor Ron DeSantis told a press conference just before Milton's arrival.
Life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding were happening across the central Florida peninsula, the NHC said.
Tidal surges are expected to inundate western Florida's heavily populated and low-lying Gulf Coast amid fears of widespread chaos and possible fatalities.
Milton is later expected to rip through inland areas to the Atlantic Ocean, with tourist hub Orlando — home to Walt Disney World — in its path.
As it hit land Milton was packing sustained winds moving at 120 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, with potential for as much as 13 feet (four meters) of storm surge, the NHC said.
In cities up and down Florida's western coast, the wind howled furiously and torrential rain fell as frightened people took shelter wherever they could.
In the city of Sarasota, near Siesta Key, gusts of wind blew panes of glass from buildings on the waterfront. The streets were deserted. Trees swayed almost horizontal, barely able to withstand the wind. Businesses were shuttered and sandbagged.
On a wooden board fixed against a window of an old red brick building, someone wrote: "Be kind Milton."
Just before landfall DeSantis said it was too late and too dangerous to evacuate anyone so people had to stay put and weather the storm wherever they were.
"Stay inside and stay off the roads. Flood waters and rushing storm surge are very dangerous," the governor said.
The airports in Tampa and Sarasota were closed until further notice.
'The other storm'
Milton hit just two weeks after another major hurricane, Helene, hit Florida and other southeastern states with devastating and deadly effect.
"I am nervous. This is something we just went through with the other storm — ground saturated, still recovering from that," Randy Prior, who owns a pool business, told AFP.
Prior, 36, says he plans to ride out the storm at home, after recently toughing out Hurricane Helene, which sparked flooding in Florida before wreaking havoc across remote areas further inland such as western North Carolina.
The Weather Channel reported "numerous tornadoes" touching down in central and southern Florida.
With the storm coming immediately after lethal Helene hit the US southeast, presidential candidate Donald Trump has sought political advantage by falsely saying aid is channeled away from residents, many of whom are supporters of his Republican Party, and toward migrants.
At the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden slammed the Republican former president and current candidate's "onslaught of lies."
"There's been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies," Biden said in angry remarks.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is taking on Trump at the polls, echoed Biden's criticisms in a separate telephone interview with CNN.
"It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly, that anyone who'd consider themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled," she said.
Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Helene, which killed at least 235 people.
Scientists say global warming has a role in intense storms as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, providing additional energy for storms, which exacerbates their winds.
