Millions of Florida residents have been urged to get out of the area before Hurricane Milton hits on Wednesday, with a huge swathe of the state subject to evacuation orders.
Embattled Floridians—who are still reeling from Hurricane Helene’s deadly destruction two weeks ago—are sitting squarely in the path of a monster Category 5 storm. That’s the highest possible rating, with winds currently raging at 180 mph in the Gulf of Mexico as the hurricane barrels toward the Sunshine State.
One of the most densely populated areas of Florida, the I-4 corridor from Tampa to Orlando, is set to be slammed by Milton and evacuation orders were issued over the weekend for some barrier islands on the west coast, with officials later adding a string of counties to the order on Monday.
By Tuesday, thousands of miles of coastline, home to millions of residents, were included. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said: “There’s never been one like this. Helene was a wake-up call; this is literally catastrophic. And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die.”
Residents should check whether their homes fall within an evacuation zone on the FloridaDisaster.org website.
Traffic was backed up for miles as many Floridians heeded the warning and fled to safety, as seen in the video above.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management’s executive director, Kevin Guthrie, said: “I urge Floridians to finalize your storm preparations now; enact your plan. I highly encourage you to evacuate. We are preparing, and I have the State Emergency Response Team preparing, for the largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma.”
Over the weekend, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter described Milton as a “historic, once-in-a-lifetime storm for Floridians.”
Another meteorologist choked back tears during an appearance on Florida NBC station WTVJ, with an emotional John Morales telling viewers on Monday: “It’s just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane… this is just horrific. Maximum sustained winds are 160 miles per hour and, um, it is just gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“The seas are so incredibly, incredibly hot, record hot, as you might imagine,” he added. “You know what’s driving that—I don’t need to tell you—global warming, climate change, [is] leading to this and becoming an increasing threat.”
He apologised as he was overcome, but later shared the clip on his X account (formerly Twitter), which can be viewed below.
Warnings of the incoming hurricane and storm surges were sent to residents via email, text messages, and phone calls beginning at about 5:10 p.m. ET on Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Back in May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted an “above-normal” Atlantic hurricane season for this year, due to the La Nina weather pattern and warmer-than-average ocean temperatures.
There are still almost two months left of the official hurricane season, which runs from June 1 until November 30.
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