Florida to issue evacuation orders ahead of Milton
Florida was gearing up for the biggest evacuation in seven years as Hurricane Milton looked set to strike Florida’s Gulf Coast.
The Associated Press reported that Milton had grown to a Category 2 hurricane early today and is strengthening over the southern Gulf of Mexico as storm surge and hurricane watches for parts of Florida and a hurricane warning for the Mexican coast were issued.
The AP said that while forecast models vary widely, the most likely path suggests Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida into the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalacian Mountains and a death toll that rose Sunday to at least 230 people.
About 7 million people were urged to evacuate Florida in 2017 as Hurricane Irma bore down on the state. The exodus jammed freeways, led to hourslong lines at gas stations that still had fuel and left evacuees frustrated.
The storm, which the center said was likely to become a Category 3 hurricane today, was centred about 195 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 750 miles west-southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph while moving east-southeast at 8 mph, the hurricane centre said.
After Milton crosses Florida, it is expected to re-enter the Atlantic and head in the general area of Bermuda. However, current forecasts have the storm weakening over the colder Atlantic waters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen where Milton will strike, it’s clear the state is going to be hit hard.
“I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” DeSantis said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
With Milton achieving hurricane status, this is the first time the Atlantic has had three simultaneous hurricanes after September, according to Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach. There have been four simultaneous hurricanes in August and September.
The St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay area is still cleaning up extensive damage from Helene and its powerful storm surge. Twelve people perished as Helene swamped the coast, with the worst damage along the narrow, 20-mile string of barrier islands that stretch from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
“We are preparing ... for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma,” Guthrie said.
People who live in homes built after Florida strengthened codes in 2004, who don’t depend on constant electricity and who aren’t in evacuation zones should probably avoid the roads, Guthrie said.
Federal disaster assistance has surpassed $137 million since Helene struck more than a week ago, one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and resources in recent history, FEMA said Sunday.
Helene is projected to cause insured losses in the billions of dollars, with estimates varying from $6 billion to as much as $17.5 billion including losses to the federal flood insurance programme.
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