Tropical Storm — Coastal Indian River, Florida

2024-10-09 to 2024-10-10 · Coastal Indian River, Florida

Event narrative

Indian River County Emergency Management reported sporadic downed trees and powerlines as a result of the wind associated with Hurricane Milton, which surface observations indicate wind gusts reached between 50 to 70 mph. Rainfall totals ranged between 3 to 9 inches, locally up to 11.5 inches. Seven tornadoes have been confirmed to have affected the county. A damage assessment reported a total of 495 structures

affected, 244 with minor damage, 117 with major damage, and 54 destroyed, with a cumulative residential and commercial loss of approximately $59.0 million, primarily from the tornadoes that impacted the county. There are no known storm-related fatalities in Indian River County as a result of Hurricane Milton.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Milton moved ashore the west-central Florida coast as a category 3 hurricane on Oct 9 around 1930EST. The system continued slowly in an east-northeast trajectory across central Florida, becoming a category 1 hurricane before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral. The outer rainbands of Milton overspread the Florida peninsula earlier in the day, leading to a prolific tornado outbreak across Okeechobee, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Osceola and Brevard counties with over 19 confirmed tornadoes within a 4-hour period. Milton's slow forward motion produced very heavy rainfall, with significant urban and street flooding particularly near and north of the center's track, as well as a significant river flood event along the St. Johns. Considerable tree damage and some structural damage occurred due to the system's tropical storm force winds, and hurricane force wind gusts, particularly near and north of the track of the center.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1221461. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.