People are getting ready for a long recovery from the damage done by Milton
Hurricane Camille in Jacksonville, Florida: How much damage can you do if you can’t tell us how much it is causing, and how to protect yourself from storm surges?
More than 200 people died in 1969 when Hurricane Camille hit the coast of Mississippi with an estimated wind speed of 200 miles per hour despite detailed weather reports. National Hurricane Center director Robert Simpson subsequently decided to adopt a categorization of hurricane wind speed developed by his friend, Miami civil engineer Herbert Saffir, leading to the Saffir–Simpson scale. Simple and evocative, it gave even the most uninformed people the sense that categories 3, 4, and 5 are major hurricanes, with major destructive potential.
Modern hurricane forecasting was born in 1943, when a US Army Air Corps pilot flew a two-person propeller plane into the eye of a hurricane on a barroom dare, and then repeated the stunt with a meteorologist on board. This gave birth to subsequent innovations like aerial surveys, but while these gave weather watchers a lot more data—on how low the barometric pressure in the storm had fallen, how fast a hurricane was spinning, and how fast it was moving toward shore—they still struggled to express the level of danger to the public.
The public needs to be aware of other factors such as the wind speed, but they don’t have to focus on the number in the category. The fact it has already been a major storm will still have that force and power on the water. Water is the biggest killer.
The Saffir-Simpson scale, which assigns hurricanes categories 1 through 5 based on wind speed, is flawed because it doesn’t take into account climate change. Even if wind slows, people will still evacuate even if there’s a storm surge and flooding.
The water forecast for Florida remained the same despite the reduced wind speed. According to the National Hurricane center, there is a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet in the cities of Clearwater, St. Pete and Sarasota. This comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene pushed an 8-foot surge into the area. Up to 18 inches of rain could be seen in isolated areas in central and northern Florida.
“This is a first-class marina, but it just goes to show you the strength of a hurricane,” said John Ahern, who was walking along the docks with his dog Abby. “I think we got lucky quite honestly.”
The dock and another boat were thrown out of the water onto the park’s sidewalk further down from the Indigo. Crowds of people taking pictures and videos of the marooned vessels were shocked to see how strong winds could move the largest boats from the water.
She and her husband, Brian, talked to NPR as they walked in Bayfront Park where a boat called the Indigo teetered half in the water after being pushed from its moorings by Milton’s strong winds overnight.
Floridians in Florida Shock: Hurricanes Shocks and Sarasota-Sesta: Evacuating Power and Water in Lakewood Ranch
Marilyn Keemer said she and her husband’s home in Lakewood Ranch lost power, but they experienced none of the threatened storm surges or flooding from Milton.
The people walked along the pier, gazing at many boats still tethered to the pier, that avoided major damage during the storm.
Many of the city’s street lights didn’t work as trees and other debris littered the streets. By mid-morning the roads were busy with residents eager to return home to survey the damage.
Millions of Floridians just like Conflitti took Thursday to survey the damage of their homes and businesses. The storm’s strong winds knocked out power throughout large swaths of coastal and central Florida, leaving about 3 million customers without electricity as of late Thursday afternoon. More than 100 tornado warnings were issued and four people were killed by tornadoes in St. Lucie County, on the state’s eastern coast.
“It’s shocking,” Conflitti said when he returned to his home of 12 years. I did not expect it. It has never been this bad in all the hurricanes.
Milton’s hurricane landed near Siesta Key, South Carolina, in a day after the Florida Hurricane ABel-Milwae
(The National Hurricane Center said Thursday that a preliminary analysis of the storm surge showed peak water levels reached 5 to 10 feet above ground level between Siesta Key and Fort Myers Beach, including Charlotte Harbor.)
The storm surge and wind destroyed most of the front wall. One of his cars was found smashed against the house after being carried by the water.
Milton made landfall around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday near Siesta Key, about 48 miles northwest of Charlotte Harbor. It landed as a Category 3 hurricane, and its effect was heavily felt in the cities south of Siesta Key.
Charlotte Harbor, Fla. Rick and his girlfriend talked a few days ago about whether or not they should evacuate their home.
