After making landfall earlier Wednesday night, Hurricane Milton brought flash flooding to several cities in Florida, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Venice. The meteorologist reported wind speeds of around 100 mph in most of these areas.
By 12:30 a.m. ET, the eye of the storm had moved inland, bringing heavy rains northeast to Orlando and Kissimmee. The storm's outer bands continued to sweep east, bringing strong winds to the Tampa Bay area.
As the winds blew back into the bay, the water level, which had been pushed out earlier, began to fill back up. This phenomenon was expected to occur later in the night, according to meteorological experts.
Several hours after its initial landfall, Hurricane Milton was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and was located approximately 40 miles south-southwest of Orlando.
