Hurricane Milton Slams Into Florida With 'Catastrophic Flooding'

Powerful Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida's southwest coast on Wednesday night, bringing "catastrophic flooding" to the areas surrounding Sarasota.

Hurricane Milton, which spent the past few days as a record-setting Category 5, churned down to a Category 3 by the time it made landfall in Siesta Key at approximately 9 p.m. ET.

Milton came ashore with sustained winds up to 120 mph and a storm surge estimated at 10 to 15 feet. Flash flood warnings were issued for the entire Tampa Bay region, which had received over 9 inches of rainfall shortly after landfall.

Perhaps the only positive note was that Milton came aground south of the heavily populated Tampa Bay area instead of the "dirty" north side of the storm that had the potential to reach far inland. However, the entire midsection of the Florida peninsula was under hurricane conditions late Wednesday.

Milton is the second major hurricane to hit the Florida Gulf Coast in two weeks. Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 that made landfall up the coast near Cedar Key, has devastated the southeastern US with flooding, power outages and loss of life and property.