According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Milton made landfall on Florida’s west coast as an intense Category 3 storm on the evening of October 9, 2024. Starting as an intense Category 5 tropical storm, Emergency declarations were made by the Biden Administration on October 5th and more than 1,000 Coast Guard members along with thousands of other Federal personnel were pre-deployed to areas affected by the storm (NBC). The storm moved back out to sea by October 10, 2024, but it left millions without electricity, and storm surges and flood warnings are still in effect for several areas as of the time of this writing. Search and rescue efforts are also currently underway. For easy reference, NHC has set up hurricanes.gov to redirect to their site for users to quickly access the latest information on the storm’s progress. Visit FEMA’s Hurricane Milton page for access to evacuation assistance, shelter information, recovery resources, and more.
Date of event: October 5-10, 2024
Impact:
- At least 11 storm-related fatalities (NBC news to provide ongoing updates)
- More than 3 million energy customers were without electricity in Florida as of the morning of October 10, 2024 (poweroutage.us)
- Early estimated damage at $175 billion (CNBC)
Related Resources:
- Hurricane Helene Recovery: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources [Updated October 3, 2024]
- Hurricane Preparedness Guide
- Hurricane Rumor Response
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