Florida appeared to have dodged a “worst-case scenario” during Hurricane Milton, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Thursday. Milton made landfall on Wednesday night as a Category 3 storm before passing over the state. Milton, which formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph winds several days before it slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast about 50 miles south of Tampa. But as the storm neared Florida, the National Hurricane Center downgraded the system to a Category 3.
“We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “The storm was significant but thankfully, this was not the worst-case scenario.”
