- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
- India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka
- One year later, Israeli hostage family learns of loss
- Texans receiver Collins, Pats' safety Peppers out for NFL clash
- Musk's X available again in Brazil after 40-day ban
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- Arch rivals Ghana, Nigeria drawn together in CHAN qualifying
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Trump lauds India's Modi as 'total killer'
- Hunkering down for Hurricane Milton at Disney -- but first, a few rides
- Reddy, Rinku power India to 221-9 in second Bangladesh T20
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
Monster Hurricane Milton makes landfall, walloping coast of Florida
Hurricane Milton blasted ashore in Florida Wednesday night with furious winds, life-threatening rain and storm surge, as people who endured another hurricane just two weeks ago braced for a long, violent night.
The "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm made landfall near Siesta Key, in a densely populated area on the state's western coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Thursday) bulletin.
"So the storm is here. It's time for every one to hunker down," Governor Ron DeSantis told a press conference just before Milton's arrival.
Life-threatening storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding were happening across the central Florida peninsula, the NHC said.
Tidal surges are expected to inundate western Florida's heavily populated and low-lying Gulf Coast amid fears of widespread chaos and possible fatalities.
Milton is later expected to rip through inland areas to the Atlantic Ocean, with tourist hub Orlando -- home to Walt Disney World -- in its path.
As it hit land Milton was packing sustained winds moving at 120 miles (205 kilometers) per hour, with potential for as much as 13 feet (four meters) of storm surge, the NHC said.
In cities up and down Florida's western coast, the wind howled furiously and torrential rain fell as frightened people took shelter wherever they could.
In the city of Sarasota, near Siesta Key, gusts of wind blew panes of glass from buildings on the waterfront. The streets were deserted. Trees swayed almost horizontal, barely able to withstand the wind. Businesses were shuttered and sandbagged.
On a wooden board fixed against a window of an old red brick building, someone wrote: "Be kind Milton."
Just before landfall DeSantis said it was too late and too dangerous to evacuate anyone so people had to stay put and weather the storm wherever they were.
"Stay inside and stay off the roads. Flood waters and rushing storm surge are very dangerous," the governor said.
The airports in Tampa and Sarasota were closed until further notice.
- 'The other storm' -
Milton hit just two weeks after another major hurricane, Helene, hit Florida and other southeastern states with devastating and deadly effect.
"I am nervous. This is something we just went through with the other storm -- ground saturated, still recovering from that," Randy Prior, who owns a pool business, told AFP.
Prior, 36, says he plans to ride out the storm at home, after recently toughing out Hurricane Helene, which sparked flooding in Florida before wreaking havoc across remote areas further inland such as western North Carolina.
The Weather Channel reported "numerous tornadoes" touching down in central and southern Florida.
With the storm coming immediately after lethal Helene hit the US southeast, presidential candidate Donald Trump has sought political advantage by falsely saying aid is channeled away from residents, many of whom are supporters of his Republican Party, and toward migrants.
At the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden slammed the Republican former president and current candidate's "onslaught of lies."
"There's been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies," Biden said in angry remarks.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is taking on Trump at the polls, echoed Biden's criticisms in a separate telephone interview with CNN.
"It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly, that anyone who'd consider themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled," she said.
Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Helene, which killed at least 235 people.
Scientists say global warming has a role in intense storms as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, providing additional energy for storms, which exacerbates their winds.
L.Carrico--PC