Superstorm Milton hits Florida, causing 'once in a 1000 years' heavy rain

According to CNN, within just 3 hours of landing in St. Petersburg, super typhoon Milton caused a record rainfall of nearly 230mm , the highest level in over 1,000 years here.

The US National Weather Service warns that heavy rains caused by Super Typhoon Milton could quickly create flash floods leading to life-threatening disasters.

CNN reporters in Fort Myers, Florida reported that the state could face its worst flooding yet as the Caloosahatchee River is rising rapidly and overflowing its banks in the Fort Myers area.

Meanwhile, according to the website that monitors the state of the US power grid, PowerOutage.us, in just over 1 hour, superstorm Milton caused more than 1.1 million households and businesses in Florida to lose power.

The most severe outages were in Sarasota County and neighboring Manatee and Hardee counties, where Milton made landfall at 8:30 p.m. PowerOutage forecasts the outages will continue to spread as Milton moves inland.

Superstorm Milton caused terrible heavy rain when it made landfall in Florida, USA (Photo: Reuters).

In St. Lucie County, where Hurricane Milton recently passed, Sheriff Keith Pearson said there were fatalities at the Spanish Lakes Club. However, at this time, St. Lucie County officials have not received specific numbers.

The Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) posted information on the night of October 9 advising residents to continue to take shelter in a safe place even after Hurricane Milton has passed. (FDEM) officials forecast that dangerous weather conditions will continue today, October 10 (local time) as Hurricane Milton continues to rage in the state.

At a press conference on the night of October 9, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said state officials had provided generators and fuel reserves to people in evacuation areas to avoid the storm. 

The Florida Department of Transportation is also ready to respond in the wake of Hurricane Milton. 

The department has mobilized 156 bridge inspectors, 402 street cleaners, more than 1,000 generators, 350 pieces of heavy equipment and trucks to focus on handling the aftermath of Superstorm Milton.

"We have mobilized a tremendous amount of equipment and personnel for search and rescue. While we hope that we will not have to deploy too many of these forces after the storm, we still need to be well prepared, not just in the state of Florida," said Mr. DeSantis.

According to Mr. DeSantis, at least 9,000 National Guard soldiers have been deployed along with more than 50,000 electricians in Florida to restore the power grid when safety conditions allow.

Meanwhile, Florida Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said teams from Miami, Ohio and Virginia were in Florida to assist areas hit hard by Hurricane Milton.

Mr Guthrie urged people to quickly seek safe shelter and use household items such as pillows, thick coats and blankets to protect themselves if they hear trees falling or debris flying in the storm.

"There will be times when you think the storm has passed. If the storm goes from being extremely terrifying to being as if nothing happened, you are definitely in the eye of the storm. Please stay inside, do not go out," Mr. Guthrie advised.