Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm

Youths duck behind the Malecon seawall as they play in the surf brought by Hurricane Milton passing through the Gulf of Mexico, in Havana, Cuba (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing powerful winds, deadly storm surge and potential flooding to much of the state.

Milton drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, twice reaching Category 5 status.