Hurricane Milton inundates Florida

HURRICANE MILTON smashed into Florida’s west coast late on October 9th near Siesta Key, a barrier island south of Sarasota. Winds raged at 120mph (193kph). The National Weather Service issued nearly 130 tornado warnings and scores of the deadly funnels ripped across the state. The storm’s relentless gusts shredded the roof of Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team (pictured). A water-main break in St Petersburg, which was drenched by a whopping 18 inches of rain, briefly left residents there without drinking water. Early on October 10th some 3.2m Floridians were without power. At least ten people have died. The full extent of the damage, and the casualties, will not be known for days, or perhaps weeks.