Although about a thousand miles away, Hurricane Milton caused some concern among people in Emerson.
“I think Hurricane Milton will be very dangerous because it seems very powerful, and also I know that hurricanes cause a lot of flooding and destruction. I think it’s going to hit Florida hard,” said sixth grader, Arya Sontag, before the hurricane made landfall.
According to the Weather Channel online, it hit the western coast of Florida near Siesta Key on October 9, 2024. It was originally classified as a Category 5 hurricane, but it slowed to a Category 3 once it hit land. The highest wind gust was 105 miles per hour, stated the website.
“When I was in high school we had Hurricane Sandy, and we lost power, and there was a lot of destruction,” Meagan Pritchard, the sixth grade language arts teacher, stated. “I was pretty young. I was like eighteen, and I don’t think I took it as seriously as I should have.”
One serious concern with Hurricane Milton was the tornadoes that followed the rainfall.
“According to National Weather Service storm survey data compiled by the Southeast Regional Climate Center and emailed to weather.com, Hurricane Milton spawned 46 tornadoes in central and southern Florida from just before midnight on Oct. 8 through Oct. 9,” stated the Weather Channel online.
