Hurricane Milton Slams Into Western Florida, Leaving Millions Without Power
Hurricane Milton made landfall last night in Western Florida, lashing the state with heavy rains and high winds and spawning multiple tornadoes. The storm was centered near Siesta Key, around Sarasota, bringing a storm surge of up to ten feet. At least nine people died as a result of the storm and more than three million Floridians are without power, but early reports suggested the damage was not as severe as what it could have been.
Milton was, for a time, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, a category five storm with sustained winds as high as 180 miles per hour. Forecasts throughout the week had the storm on a direct path for Tampa, known as Cigar City, and officials feared catastrophic damage. Tampa is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, and the area was still recovering from damage inflicted by Hurricane Helene in late September. By the time it reached the United States, it weakened to a category three, coming ashore with winds of more than 100 miles per hour, and striking farther south than anticipated.
Tampa’s El Reloj Cigar Factory, owned by J.C. Newman Cigar Co., weathered the storm. “The factory experienced some leaks and minor water damage, but that is not uncommon for our 90,000-square-foot, 114-year-old, historic red brick building,” says Drew Newman, one of the company owners. “My family and I are tremendously grateful to our security team who rode out the storm in El Reloj, protecting the building and all of the cigars and tobacco that are inside.”
The storm knocked out power to El Reloj, and some water entered the building, but the damage was minimal. “After being closed for three days, J.C. Newman expects to reopen and resume rolling and shipping cigars tomorrow morning unless it takes longer to restore electrical service,” says Newman.
Damage from this storm wasn’t limited to the coast. Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of Corona Cigar Co., suffered significant damage to his tobacco field in Claremont, located in central Florida just north of Walt Disney World. “The tobacco field has lots of standing water [in] some areas,” he says. “I’m sure the plants will drown…. The farm got hit pretty bad but at least our barns didn’t blow away.” A tobacco barn door also blew in, crushing a piece of equipment.
Corona’s stores in Orlando, Sarasota, Lake Mary and Tampa fared better. “So far, from initial reports our stores are OK. Lots of cleanup to do,” says Borysiewicz. "Other than some roof tiles missing our Sand Lake store [in Orlando] did OK."
In the Naples area, where Rocky Patel Cigars is headquartered, the effect was minimal. “We lucked out,” says Nish Patel, one of the company principals.
