Milton’, live | The cyclone makes landfall on Siesta Key, south of Tampa, with torrential rains and strong gusts of wind

The National Hurricane Center is urging citizens to take shelter as Milton hits Florida. More than a million residents were without power within an hour of the storm’s arrival.

Hurricane Milton made landfall south of Tampa, in the town of Siesta Key, at 8:30 pm Florida time, 6:30 in Mexico City, 7:30 in Bogota, 9:30 in Buenos Aires and 2:30 am in Madrid.

The cyclone reached US soil as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 miles (193 kilometers) per hour and torrential rains. An hour later, there were already more than a million residents across the State of Florida without electricity, a number that will increase as the storm moves inland between tonight and Thursday.

After making landfall, the system weakened and became a Category 2 storm, but meteorologists insist that Milton’s impact will be significant. It is too late to evacuate, but authorities have asked the population to take shelter as they can and not leave where they are unless there is a life-or-death situation. “It’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so we have to stay safe,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

President Joe Biden had already warned hours earlier: “It’s literally a matter of life and death.” Despite the recurrence of hurricanes in Florida, this area has not received a direct hit from a cyclone like this one in more than a century.

Still recovering from the devastation left by Helene’s winds and storm surge two weeks ago, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 51 of the state’s 67 counties. Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in 15 of them, home to 7.2 million people.