Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida’s Gulf coast as a Category 4 hurricane on Wednesday bringing devastating winds, life-threatening storm surge and flash floods to communities already battered by Hurricane Helene.
Milton rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane on Monday, with sustained winds reaching a brutal 150mph, the National Hurricane Center announced.
The hurricane comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend, killing more than 220 and causing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage across the Southeast.
With recovery efforts still ongoing, Floridians are now bracing for the new storm which, as of Monday morning, is tracking towards the northwest, moving “erratically” through the southern Gulf of Mexico on its path towards the west coast of the Florida Peninsula.
Milton is then expected to make landfall in the heavily-populated Tampa Bay area mid-week, before charting a path through Orlando.
Up to 15 inches of rainfall is expected to be dumped across portions of the Sunshine State’s peninsula and the Florida Keys through to Wednesday evening, with heavy downpours forecast to cause “considerable” flash floods, the NHC warned.
Much of Florida’s west coast from the south up to the Big Bend region was under a storm surge watch on Monday morning, with peak surge predicted to reach up to 12 feet in Tampa Bay and the Anclote River.
Floridians have been urged to brace for what Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, warned could be the largest evacuation since 2017’s Hurricane Irma. “I highly encourage you to evacuate,” Guthrie said.
Officials in Pinellas County – where 12 died as a result of Hurricane Helene – announced on Sunday that mandatory evacuations are likely to be issued for more than half a million residents in the lowest-lying areas on Monday.
“This is going to be bad. That’s all you need to know,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during an emergency press conference on Sunday afternoon. “Everyone just needs to get out.”
Evacuation measures must be more strictly followed, he warned, telling businesses owners that “we’re going to shut you down” in order to reduce the risk of loss of life.
President Joe Biden was initially briefed on Milton on Sunday with the White House confirming the administration is preparing “life-saving resources in advance of the storm.” Biden is expected to attend another briefing on Monday afternoon.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Sunday that 4,000 members of the National Guard had been deployed to the state, with all hands on deck to clear debris from Helene in preparation for Milton. He warned that existing wreckage could “increase damage dramatically.”
“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,” the governor said.
AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva warned that debris from Helene could “turn into airborne missiles or be swept away in flooding and storm surge”.
The weather forecasting company’s chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter described Milton as a “once-in-a-lifetime storm for Floridians”.
