Milton is forecast to cross central Florida and to dump as much as 46 centimetres of rain with winds of 265 kilometres per hour, according to the National Hurricane Centre. That path would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Carolinas.
The arrival of back-to-back hurricanes that rapidly intensified into mighty storms comes as climate change exacerbates conditions that are allowing them to thrive in warming waters. Milton is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which started June 1.
Tampa Bay has not been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921, and authorities fear its luck is about to run out. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued increasingly dire warnings, noting that a 15-foot surge could swallow an entire house.
“So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in,” she said.
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Most of Florida’s west coast was under a hurricane or tropical storm warning as the system spun just off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, creeping toward shore and sucking energy from the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters.
In Riverview, south of Tampa, several drivers waiting in a long line for fuel Tuesday morning said they had no plans to evacuate.
“I think we’ll just hang, you know, tough it out,” said Martin Oakes, of nearby Apollo Beach. “We got shutters up. The house is all ready. So this is sort of the last piece of the puzzle.”
Ralph Douglas, who lives in neighbouring Ruskin, said he, too, will stay put, in part because he worries about running out of gas trying to return after the storm or getting blocked by debris.
“Where I’m at right now, I don’t think I need to evacuate,” he said.
At the Tampa airport, John Fedor and his wife were trying to catch a cab to a storm shelter after missing multiple flights home to Philadelphia. They had hoped taking a Caribbean cruise would bring them closer, but tensions were rising after they spent nearly $US1,000 on unplanned transportation and hotel rooms due to travel delays.
“We’re kind of like stranded here,” Fedor said.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and the White House announced he would postpone a trip to Germany and Angola to monitor the storm.
“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” Biden told reporters. “God willing it won’t be. But that’s what it’s looking like right now.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has almost 900 staff members in the region and has stocked two staging areas with 20 million meals and 40 million litres of water, the White House said.
Members of the Florida Army National Guard stage on a beach as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in Bradenton Beach, Florida.Credit: AP
The Florida Highway Patrol reported heavy traffic northbound and eastbound on all roadways and said state troopers were escorting fuel tankers to assist with petrol delivery.
In southwest Florida, the streets in the seaside town of Punta Gorda were still filled with furniture, books, toys and even a few hot tubs destroyed by Helene. Scott Joiner, who described bull sharks swimming in the flooded streets during that storm, said the city has been trying to pick up the trash but didn’t have enough time before Milton.
“Water is a blessing to have, but it is very deadly,” he said.
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