Tropical Storm — Lake, Florida

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

Event narrative

Lake County Emergency Management reported numerous downed trees and powerlines as a result of the wind associated with Hurricane Milton, which surface observations indicate wind gusts reached between 55 to 75 mph. Rainfall totals ranged from 6 to 11 inches, which produced significant freshwater street, urban, and low-lying flooding in parts of the county. The St. Johns River quickly entered major flood stage at both Astor and Deland, with the river cresting at a new (preliminary) record of 4.8 ft. at Astor on Sat. Oct. 12. A damage assessment reported a total of 285 structures affected, 216 with minor damage, 66 with major damage, and 7 destroyed, with a cumulative residential and commercial loss of approximately $13.6 million.

There are two known indirect storm related fatalities in Lake County associated with Hurricane Milton. A Tavares couple, 67 (male) and 85 (female), are suspected to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning when authorities conducting a wellness check discovered a generator running in a shed that was connected to their home.

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 1221745. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.