'Catastrophic' Hurricane Milton heads to Florida Gulf Coast

Just two weeks after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, Milton knocked out power for over 3 million customers, flooded barrier islands, ripped the roof off a baseball stadium, and toppled a construction crane.

Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday near Siesta Key, Florida, a barrier island next to Sarasota.

Volusia County, one of Florida’s hardest-hit areas, had its curfew lifted at 8 a.m. Thursday, and flight restrictions were lifted a few hours later at 11 a.m.

After Hurricane Milton came ashore on Florida’s Gulf coast, Carla Simionescu was reassuring relieved relatives on Thursday morning on the phone while she took photos of the tree branches, rocks, bits of wood and other debris littering the front yard and gravel driveway of her Sarasota house.