Florida
Hurricane Milton Live Updates: More Than 3 Million Without Power—But DeSantis Says Storm ‘Not The Worst Case Scenario’
Topline
More than 3 million homes and businesses were without power early Thursday as Hurricane Milton pulled away from Florida as a category 1 storm after spawning multiple tornadoes and major flooding as it moved through the state overnight.
Debris and an awning of a gas station sits on the ground the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the … [+]
Key Facts
8 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 —The National Hurricane Center placed Hurricane Milton about 75 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, with maximum wind speeds of 85 mph.
The only remaining hurricane warning in effect at 8 a.m. was for Florida’s east coast from Sebastian Inlet northward to the Flagler/Volusia County line.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Florida’s east coast south of Sebastian Inlet to the Palm Beach/Martin County line, Lake Okeechobee, and north of the Flagler/Volusia County line to Edisto Beach, South Carolina.
6 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — Orlando Police and Orlando Fire officials were “back on the road” early on Thursday after having to shelter in place during the hurricane, while Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office also said it has begun rescue operations.
4:40 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — According to the National Hurricane Center, Milton has now moved past Florida’s east coast but was still producing “damaging hurricane-force winds” and heavy rains in the state’s east-central region.
4 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — Almost a million more customers have lost power across Florida in the last few hours; more than 3 million homes and businesses are now facing outages, according to PowerOutage.US.
3:45 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — Authorities in Plant City, located in the Tampa Bay Area, warned residents to avoid standing water due to the “possible danger of live electrical lines” and wastewater contamination—while officials in city of St. Petersburg were forced to shut down the drinking water supply at midnight due to a potential line break.
2:15 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — A large crane collapsed and smashed into the side of a building in downtown St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Times reported, adding that the incident occurred near the newspaper’s main office and smoke was billowing out of the affected building.
According to the Associated Press the crane had been set up the construction site of a 515-foot-tall luxury high-rise building and local fire officials said there are no reports of any injuries from the collapse.
2 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — The National Hurricane Center update showed Milton has weakened to a Category 1 storm as it moves through Central Florida but the agency warned that “damaging winds and heavy rains” will continue to pose a threat.
12:45 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — The National Weather Service said the center of the Hurricane is now moving inland towards Central Florida after battering the Tampa Bay area with peak wind speeds of above 100 mph on Wednesday night.
12:30 a.m. EDT, Oct 10 — Strong winds from Milton appeared to damage a portion of the roof of Tropicana Field—the Tampa Bay Rays’ home venue—although there were no reports of any injuries to people inside the stadium. According to the Associated Press, the ballpark is being used as a staging site for workers who have been brought in to deal with the hurricane’s aftermath.
11:45 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — A tornado outbreak in Florida’s St. Lucie County and the East Coast resulted in multiple fatalities earlier on Wednesday, the local sheriff’s office said.
11:15 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — According to PowerOutage.US around 2 million customers were without power across Florida amid reports of the hurricane spawning multiple tornadoes across its path on Wednesday night.
8:30 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — Milton made landfall near Siesta Key in Sarasota County as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.
7 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — The “northern eyewall” of Milton was moving into the Tampa Bay area, with forecasters urging those in the area to “shelter in place.”
6:36 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — The National Weather Service issued an extreme wind warning for Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties in the Tampa Bay area as “extreme winds, associated with the eyewall of Hurricane Milton, were moving onshore,” telling those in the warning area to “Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching and move immediately to the safe room in your shelter.”
6 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — Hurricane-force wind gusts of 77 mph have been recorded at a WeatherFlow station at Egmont Channel at the mouth of Tampa Bay, about 15 minutes from St. Petersburg, according to the National Hurricane Center.
4 p.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — The NHC warned tropical-storm-force winds and heavy rain had reached the western coast of Florida, and urged anyone in a tornado watch area to be ready to quickly shelter (see below).
11:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — Tampa’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge closed to all traffic as wind speeds pick up.
11:12 a.m. EDT, Oct. 9 — Waffle House announced dozens of its locations in Tampa, Fort Myers, Orlando and beyond would be closed starting Wednesday afternoon, marking Milton as a “red” on the federally recognized “Waffle House Index” (see below).
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Where Is Hurricane Milton Headed Next?
Hurricane Milton is pulling away from Florida’s east coast and is expected to pass to the north of the Bahamas and be back to the Atlantic by Thursday afternoon, but the NHC still predicted “strong gust winds and heavy rainfall” near the space coast. It also warned of tropical storm conditions in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as a result of Milton. The storm will continue moving east-northeast through Thursday before taking a turn east Thursday night.
Crucial Quote
“The storm was significant but thankfully this was not the worst case scenario,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a press conference Thursday. “The storm did weaken before landfall and the storm surge, as initially reported, has not been as significant overall as what was observed for Hurricane Helene.”
What To Watch For
The total number of casualties from the storm. DeSantis said Thursday “it seems very likely that there were some with the tornadoes” and recognized there had been reports of deaths—officials in St. Lucie County confirmed on Thursday there were at least four deaths from tornadoes in the area—but said his office has not yet confirmed any.
What Is Storm Surge And Where Could It Be The Worst?
Storm surge is the abnormal rise of seawater level caused by a storm. The NHC warned the combination of storm surge and the tide will cause areas that are normally dry near the coast to be flooded. Officials warned of storm surge as high as 13 feet in some parts of Florida. As of Thursday morning’s 8 a.m. EDT update, the storm surge warning for Florida’s west coast was discontinued, though a warning was in effect for Sebastian Inlet, Florida, to Altamaha Sound, Georgia, including the St. Johns River.
What Have Politicians Said About Hurricane Milton?
President Joe Biden addressed the country from the White House Tuesday morning and called Hurricane Milton “a matter of life and death.” He encouraged Florida residents in the path of the storm to evacuate “now” and postponed a planned international trip to Germany and Angola “in order to oversee preparations for and the response to Hurricane Milton.” Vice President Kamala Harris and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have been in a strange he-said-she-said about the incoming storm, with Harris accusing DeSantis of not taking her calls and “playing political games” DeSantis said Harris “has no role in this” and that he’s been communicating just fine with Biden, who also said he has been in touch. Biden said he gave DeSantis his personal phone number and told him to call if there is anything the federal government can do to help. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said in an interview with CNN, “I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.” Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday afternoon told CNN even if the category of the storm changed, “that is not actually a downgrade in terms of the danger and the dangerous potential of it,” urging Floridians to not rely on the designation “to their detriment.”
How Is Travel To Florida Impacted By Hurricane Milton?
Tampa International Airport closed at 9 a.m. Tuesday with plans to reopen “as soon as it is safe” later this week and Orlando International Airport closed at 8 a.m. Wednesday. More than 2,224 flights into and out of the United States were canceled as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, and another 423 were delayed. Orlando saw by far the most cancellations, with 485 flights originating there being canceled and 447 flights arriving there being canceled, followed by Tampa with about 220 canceled each way, according to Flight Aware. Major airlines have told passengers they can change their plans without paying a fare difference. Walt Disney World Resort is closed its parks beginning Wednesday morning—news that came after Goldman Sachs predicted the company is likely to take a nine-figure hit financially from the storm. Universal Resort Orlando announced Tuesday afternoon it will close at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday and remain closed Thursday. Legoland Florida Resort and SeaWorld Orlando will both be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, and Busch Gardens Tampa is now closed through Thursday.
Have Waffle Houses Closed For Hurricane Milton?
Yes. Tampa-area locations of Waffle House, the breakfast food chain, closed ahead of Milton’s projected landfall. The company cited the so-called “Waffle House Index” in a social media post explaining the decision, a reference to a scale invented by former Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) administrator Craig Fugate to judge the severity of a natural disaster. If Waffle Houses in an area are open and serving a full menu, it’s a green on the index, a limited menu is a yellow on the scale, meaning the local area could be without electricity or water, and the index goes to red if the locations close down, indicating the local community will be in need of significant help.
Key Background
Milton was the second major hurricane to hit Florida in two weeks. Hurricane Helene hit the state on Sept. 26, killing at least 20 in Florida, before going on to devastate parts of the southeastern United States. More than 220 people have died and hundreds more are still missing, with western North Carolina taking the brunt of flooding that the state’s governor says wiped communities “off the map.” In Florida, people are still working to clear debris from Helene as the next storm bears down. Before Hurricane Milton made landfall, Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, ordered evacuations for areas near Tampa Bay and for all mobile and manufactured homes by Tuesday night. Lee County, home to Fort Myers, issued a mandatory evacuation order for the island of Fort Myers Beach. Other mandatory evacuation orders were issued in Pinellas County, Pasco County and Manatee County. DeSantis said on Tuesday he wasn’t sure exactly how many people planned to evacuate for Hurricane Milton, but that he thought those who saw Hurricane Helene would be particularly motivated to leave the area.
Tangent
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it is grappling with “extremely damaging” false narratives circulating about Hurricane Helene, which hit the U.S. two weeks ago. FEMA chief Deanne Criswell said misinformation about the storm and the federal government’s response is the “worst” she’s ever seen as former President Donald Trump and his allies slam the agency. Trump incorrectly claimed FEMA couldn’t respond appropriately to the storm because it diverted so much money to helping migrants on the order of Vice President Kamala Harris. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency is “meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have.” Other rumors include that FEMA has been withholding aid from areas that have historically voted Republican and that the agency is only giving $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery.
Siladitya Ray contributed to this report.
Further Reading
Florida
GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The engines are revving for one final day of high-stakes bidding and family fun at the South Florida Fairgrounds.
Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction reaches its grand finale today with an action-packed “Super Saturday” lineup, promising to close out the weekend with a full slate of collector car sales, live entertainment, and fan attractions.
“Super Saturday,” presented by Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, officially kicks off at 8 a.m. when gates, food courts, and the exhibitor marketplace open to the public.
What to expect
- 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: The Fantasy Bid presented by Dodge begins early, running in tandem with the automobilia auction in the arena.
- 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Thrill-seekers can catch Dodge thrill rides on the Barrett-Jackson Performance Track.
- 10:00 a.m.: New amenities open to the public, including the Stella Artois, Staging Lanes, and Food Court patios, which offer shaded seating and auction views.
- 10:45 a.m.: The national anthem will be performed in the auction arena, signaling the start of the main collector car auction at 11 a.m.
- Afternoon Entertainment: DJ sets run from noon to 5 p.m. across the various patios, and a detailing clinic by Adam’s Polishes is scheduled for 2 p.m. near the South Showcase.
For those unable to attend, the whole event will be livestreamed throughout the day on the Barrett-Jackson website and the HISTORY channel from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Today’s finale comes on the heels of a high-energy Friday that saw significant sales and notable celebrity interest.
Star power was evident throughout the day, particularly with vehicles tied to the Busch family. A 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible owned by Samantha Busch and a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Custom Coupe were among the day’s heavy hitters, each fetching $159,500. Kyle Busch’s 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe also drew a strong bid, selling for $143,000.
Other Friday highlights included:
- 1968 Ford Mustang Eleanor Replica: $137,500
- 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition: $132,000
- 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom SUV: $126,500
- 1957 Ford Thunderbird Custom Convertible: $121,000
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With a festival-style atmosphere and high-profile sales driving momentum, organizers expect a busy crowd for the final push at the auction block today.
Florida
Bodycam captures life-saving rescue of choking baby by Florida deputies
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A quiet Monday turned into a frantic race against time when a deputy stepped in to save a choking 1-year-old’s life.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call about a 1-year-old baby choking. Upon arrival, the responding deputy performed life-saving procedures to help the child breathe again.
See also: Two arrested after 6-year-old arrives at Florida school with bruises, deputies say
Body camera video shows a deputy holding the baby, flipping it over on its stomach, and beginning to pat the baby’s back.
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When the baby begins to cry, the deputy is heard saying, “he’s good.”
Florida
Son of 2nd patient who died after seeing Florida surgeon describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’
Weyman Dorsett knew something went wrong with his mom’s surgery as he watched an ICU doctor review her medical charts.
“I’ll never forget and it’ll never leave my mind, the look on that doctor’s face as he was reading through the files,” Dorsett, 53, said. “… He was just shaking his head, like: ‘what in the living hell is going on?’”
His mother, 70-year-old Dorothy Dorsett, was in recovery after a surgeon removed a tumor from her digestive tract. But she was hardly eating and had an abnormally fast heartbeat, according to a lawsuit Dorsett later filed. She was moved to the ICU nearly a week after the surgery.
“She just started really spiraling, pain,” Dorsett said. “She was not my mom.”
She died days later, on Aug. 4, 2023.
About a year later, another patient, William Bryan, 70, died after the same surgeon operated on him.
The surgeon, Thomas Shaknovsky was arrested this week, accused of accidentally removing Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen, prosecutors said. Shaknovsky operated on both Dorothy Dorsett and Bryan at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach.
Shaknovsky and his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment. However, he has denied wrongdoing in Dorothy Dorsett’s case in court filings of his own, arguing that some of the allegations were inaccurate and that descriptions of Dorsett’s care were incomplete. The lawsuit remains ongoing.
Do you have a story to share? Email reporter matthew.lavietes@nbcuni.com or reach us at our tip line.
The hospital did not immediately return a request for comment. Earlier this week, Macdonald Walker, a spokesperson for Ascension Sacred Heart, said in a statement that Shaknovsky “was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.”
Weyman Dorsett filed a lawsuit against Shaknovsky and Ascension Sacred Heart last year, accusing the doctor and hospital of negligence. He spoke out for the first time since his mother died in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.
“I’ve got two boys, a wife, now a grandbaby, and you know, I’m trying to be there for them, but, man, I’ve struggled mentally in dealing with it,” he said. “It’s just not right.”
On July 24, 2023, Dorothy Dorsett was admitted to the hospital after suffering abdominal pain, Weyman Dorsett, said. At the time, he said his mom was “in great health.”
“She was going non-stop. She lived on her own, drove everywhere, she went all over,” he said. “Prior to the surgery, she flew to my oldest son’s wedding in Bentonville, Arkansas, with a broken leg from a car wreck.”
At the hospital, his mom was diagnosed with gastrointestinal bleeding and acute blood loss anemia, according to the civil complaint.
The next day, the Dorsett family met Shaknovsky, whom Weyman Dorsett described as “odd.” He said the doctor prayed by his mom’s bedside before the surgery.
“It was way over the top,” Weyman Dorsett said. “It was very insincere to me.”
He said his mother thought Shaknovsky was “very weird.”
That day, Shaknovsky performed a colonoscopy and found a tumor in Dorothy Dorsett’s digestive tract, which he removed on July 27, 2023, according to the complaint.
During the surgery following the colonoscopy, Shaknovsky did not perform a routine test, which would have ensured there were no leaks in a newly joined intestine, according to the complaint.
Shaknovsky told the family that the surgery “went great,” Weyman Dorsett said, but his mother’s condition immediately started to deteriorate.
He said that his mom was moved to the ICU on Aug. 2, 2023.
Weyman Dorsett left that night, but his mother called him to come back to the hospital at midnight, saying she was going to die.
“My mom looked at me and just said, ‘It is what it is. I’ve lived a good life,’” he said. “And I had to sit there and watch her die.”
On Aug. 3, 2023, a doctor on call, Dr. Chun W. Chen, documented Dorothy Dorsett’s condition, according to the complaint, noting that he saw “more air than I would expect postsurgical” and mentioning concern “for bowel perforation specifically around the chain sutures in the pelvis.”
Chen added in the report that pockets of air had formed around Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.
“Although this may be postsurgical, cannot exclude bowel perforation,” he wrote.
Chen said in a brief phone call that he didn’t remember the patient and declined to comment further.
That evening, Shaknovsky documented in a daily progress note the air and fluid collection in Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.
Shaknovsky did not advise surgical intervention due to Dorothy’s declining organ function and risks associated with anesthesia, the complaint says.
Dorothy Dorsett was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. on August 4, 2023, according to the complaint. She passed away surrounded by family, the complaint says.
“Until you go through it yourself, and to be there with my mom and watch her suffer, and to be there when she takes her last breath has been devastating,” Weyman Dorsett said. “I suffer every day. It’s a haunting memory that I can’t erase out of my mind.”
Allegations of another botched surgery
On Aug. 21, 2024, prosecutors allege that Shaknovsky accidentally removed William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy.
Shaknovsky, who had been licensed to practice medicine in several states, had his Florida license suspended about a month after Bryan’s death. Later that year, he voluntarily surrendered his license to practice in Alabama. New York then suspended his license in 2025.
Bryan’s widow, Beverly Bryan, filed a civil lawsuit against Shaknovsky in 2025, accusing the surgeon of causing her husband’s death.
After the suit was filed, Weyman Dorsett learned that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration completed an investigation into his mom’s death in September 2024, after Bryan’s botched surgery and more than a year after Dorothy’s death.
The investigation found that Shaknovsky and other hospital physicians “failed to appropriately use diagnostic testing and delayed in ordering imaging to timely treat sepsis” in Dorothy Dorsett’s case, according to a copy of the report.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration did not return a request for comment.
Shaknovsky was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Bryan, according to officials.
“It’s bittersweet,” Weyman Dorsett said. “You know, nothing’s going to bring back Mr. Bryan, or my mom and all the other people that are still out there that have been butchered and suffered.”
Dorothy Dorsett grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where she and her husband, Weyman Dorsett II, her high school sweetheart, raised their two children: Weyman Dorsett III and his sister.
“She just was everything you would think the American dream mom would be,” he said. “She led by example, best cook in the world. She was our rock.”
She and her husband moved back and forth from Alabama to Miramar Beach, Florida, about 30 miles west of Panama City. She moved to Miramar Beach permanently following the death of Weyman Dorsett II in 2021.
Weyman Dorsett III described his mother’s passing as a “big piece missing.”
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