Hurricane Milton slams into Florida’s west coast with 120 mph winds, leaving 1.6M without power | 9 Oct 2024 | Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida's west coast Wednesday night as an extremely dangerous storm, bringing a "life-threatening" surge and 120 mph winds that left nearly 2 million people without power and areas inundated with water. Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m., with winds up to 120 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center -- significantly lighter than the 180 mph Milton blew while raging as a Category 5 storm at various points as it traveled across the gulf. The superstorm was downgraded to a Category 2 at about 10 p.m. Siesta Key, a barrier island off Sarasota that's been named one of the 25 best beaches in the world, has about 5,500 residents who are mostly retirement age.