Tropical Storm — Seminole, Florida

2024-10-09 to 2024-10-10 · Seminole, Florida

Event narrative

Seminole County Emergency Management reported sporadic instances of downed trees and powerlines throughout the county as surface observations indicate peak wind gusts generally between 60 to 75 mph, locally as high as 84 mph. Rainfall totals ranged between 6 to 10 inches and locally up to 13 inches, which produced substantial street, urban, and low-lying flooding throughout the county. The St. Johns River entered moderate flood stage near Sanford, and major flood stage at Lake Harney. A preliminary damage assessment reported a total of 554 structures affected, 212 with minor damage, 54 with major damage, and 1 destroyed, with a cumulative public, residential, and commercial loss of approximately $30.0 million, mostly attributed to flooding. There are no known storm-related fatalities in Seminole 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 1221740. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.