Storm chaser Connor McCrorey reports from Siesta Key, Florida, where Hurricane Milton made landfall on the night of Oct. 9. The region has a long and difficult road to recovery after the storm.
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00:00I'm storm chaser Connor McCrory reporting from Siesta Key, Florida, where Hurricane
00:05Milton made landfall Wednesday night.
00:07After a slow build-up over a few days, Milton roared ashore as a Category 3 storm, bringing
00:13several feet of storm surge and wind gusts around 110 mph to nearby Sarasota, where I
00:20rode out the storm.
00:23The front half of the eyewall gave me a false sense of security, as it seemed the hurricane
00:27was a bit weaker than predicted.
00:29When the backside of the eyewall came through, though, it brought with it storm surge and
00:34flooding that inundated parts of the city, along with the high winds that brought down
00:39trees, power lines, awnings, and other structures.
00:43Elsewhere in Florida, storms associated with Hurricane Milton produced deadly tornadoes
00:48and torrential rains, causing flash flooding across much of the state.
00:53Floodwaters sparked fires, like this one, that burned these condominiums to the ground.
00:59The day after Milton hit, life in this area was difficult, to say the least.
01:04Even for those who didn't receive any damage themselves, power and communication outages
01:09were widespread, and gas remained hard to find.
01:14Milton was the third hurricane to affect western Florida in a span of just over two months.
01:19With many in Tampa Bay and the surrounding areas still clearing piles of debris from
01:23around their homes, Milton only added to their recent ordeals.
01:28Hurricane season is not over yet, but most of the residents that I've spoken to in Florida
01:33while covering this storm have said they hope this will be the last one that they have to
01:37deal with for a long time.
01:39Reporting from Siesta Key, Florida, I'm storm chaser Connor McCorry.