Tropical Storm — Northern Brevard Barrier Islands, Florida

2024-10-09 to 2024-10-10 · Northern Brevard Barrier Islands, Florida

Event narrative

Brevard County Emergency Management reported scattered instances of downed trees and powerlines throughout the county. Surface observations indicate peak wind gusts generally between 50 to 70 mph and as high as 80 mph closer to the coast. One tornado was confirmed to have affected the county. Rainfall totals generally ranged between 3 to 6.5 inches. A preliminary damage assessment reported a total of 405 structures affected, 111 with minor damage, and 33 with major damage. A cumulative cost assessment was not available at the time of this writing. There are no known storm-related fatalities in Brevard 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 1221723. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.