At least 19 tornadoes touch down in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton landfall
At least 19 tornadoes have touched down across the state of Florida as the outer bands of Hurricane Milton wreak havoc across the state.
Speaking during a 8 p.m. press briefing Wednesday evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis said 116 tornado warnings have been issues across the state -- including 19 confirmed touchdowns -- and the powerful Milton has not even made landfall yet.
Above video: Tornado rips through Clewiston as Hurricane Milton lashes Florida
That number is only expected to rise over the next 24 hours, state officials said.
The governor said he does not remember a storm in recent history where so many tornado warnings were issued. Those tornado-warned storms carved through the state, leaving behind a path of devastation.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FORECAST AS MILTON NEARS LANDFALL.
There are confirmed fatalities associated with the tornadoes, officials say. St. Lucie County officials confirmed that there are "multiple fatalities" following tornadoes in the area. The fatalities are in the Spanish Lakes Community, they said.
As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, Milton was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west-southwest of Sarasota, Florida, and had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.
The Category 3 storm was “close to making landfall.” It was moving northeast at 15 mph (28 kph), slowing slightly from earlier in the afternoon.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center considers official landfall to be when the exact center of a tropical cyclone meets a coastline. But that doesn’t mean it’s also when the storm’s strongest winds hit.
“Because the strongest winds in a tropical cyclone are not located precisely at the center, it is possible for a cyclone’s strongest winds to be experienced over land even if landfall does not occur. Similarly, it is possible for a tropical cyclone to make landfall and have its strongest winds remain over the water,” the center says on its website.
