Hurricane Milton downgraded to Category 2 storm, brings tornados and record rainfall

Hurricane Milton finally made landfall on Wednesday night, slamming into Florida's western coast as a Category 3 storm and wreaking havoc near Tampa Bay.

The storm began the day as a potentially devastating Category 5 hurricane, but lowered to a Category 4 on Wednesday afternoon, before downgrading to a Category 3 storm, where it remained until after making landfall. Milton had a sustained wind speed of 120 mph at landfall. 

The hurricane has since been downgraded again to a Category 2 hurricane, with sustained winds of 110 mph, as of 10:15 p.m. Eastern. But officials warn that the storm is still considered dangerous, per CNN.

The hurricane comes just two weeks after the state was hit by Hurricane Helene, which resulted in the deaths of over 200 people in the southeast. Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, and hit North Carolina the hardest.

Hurricane Milton has resulted in destructive flooding in Tampa because of storm surges and rainfall. Approximately 6 inches of rain has already fallen in Tampa as of 8 p.m. Eastern, and an additional 5 to 8 inches is expected in the next six hours.

“An axis of extreme rainfall, stretching from the Tampa metropolitan region northeastward into the north-central Florida Peninsula, is expected to result in major to locally catastrophic flash flooding with considerable threats to life and property,” the Weather Prediction Center warned.

More than one million businesses and homes are also without power across Florida as of Wednesday evening, per PowerOutage.us. and the number is expected to rise. 

Weather conditions caused by Hurricane Milton have also prompted the state to issue more than 100 tornado warnings as of 6 p.m., breaking the state's record, with at least 19 confirmed tornadoes being spotted so far, per weather service reports. The bulk of the tornado warnings were issued in Miami.

Multiple fatalities have been reported in St. Lucie County as of Wednesday evening, though no clear number has been released so far. The deaths occurred after a tornado blew through the Spanish Lakes Country Club. 

Injuries have also been reported in Martin County, by the Martin County Fire Rescue. It is not clear how many people were injured and no fatalities have been reported so far, but the injuries range from mild to serious.

"It’s estimated that dozens of homes have been damaged, some severely," Martin County Fire Rescue posted to X. "There have been minor/serious injuries, however, there have been no fatalities reported at this time. Please STAY OFF roads."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.