Although forecast models vary widely, the most likely track suggests Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it crosses central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean, officials said. forecasters. That would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains and a death toll that rose to 230 people Sunday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen where Milton will strike, it’s clear that Florida 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.
Hurricane Milton was centered about 800 miles west-southwest of Tampa Sunday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (km/h), the National Hurricane Center said.
“You have time to prepare – all day today (Sunday), all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to make sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” said the governor. “If you’re on this west coast of Florida, on the barrier islands, assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
Milton’s attainment of hurricane status marks the first time the Atlantic has experienced three simultaneous hurricanes after September, said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane scientist at Colorado State University. There were four simultaneous hurricanes in August and September.
The St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay area is still cleaning up the extensive damage caused by Helene and its powerful storm surge. Twelve people died when Helene submerged the coast, with the most severe damage caused along the narrow 20-mile chain of barrier islands that stretches from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.
Evacuations planned
Mr. DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruptions, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and they are ready to hit the road. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, coordinated with the governor and briefed President Joe Biden on Sunday on how it organized the resources needed to save lives.
“I strongly encourage you to evacuate” if you find yourself in an evacuation zone, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “We are preparing… for the largest evacuation we have experienced, quite possibly since 2017, Hurricane Irma.”
The state has prepared emergency fuel sources and electric vehicle charging stations along evacuation routes and “identified every possible location that could possibly house someone along these routes,” it said. Mr. Guthrie. People who live in homes built after Florida tightened its codes in 2004, who don’t rely on constant electricity and who aren’t in evacuation zones should probably avoid the roads, he said. he clarified.
All Pinellas County school classes and activities in St. Petersburg were closed preemptively Monday through Wednesday as it approached Milton, and Tampa opened city garages free of charge so people could park their cars at the shelter from the next flood waters.
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews remove debris, DeSantis said, and he ordered that Florida crews sent to North Carolina after Helene return to the state to prepare for Milton.
Federal disaster aid has exceeded $137 million since Helene struck more than a week ago, one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and resources in recent history, the l Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The hurricane center said Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the northwest Bahamas should monitor the system’s progress. Heavy rain was expected Sunday ahead of the storm itself, and will likely then combine with precipitation from Milton to flood Florida’s waterways and streets, where forecasters said up to 12 inches of rain could fall in places until Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, Hurricane Kirk strengthened to Category 2 on Sunday, with peak winds of 100 mph, sending strong swells and “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions endangered” in Bermuda and northward along the U.S. and Canadian coasts, the center said. Hurricane Leslie was also moving over the Atlantic Ocean, well away from land, with peak winds reaching 140 km/h.
