Written by Leonora Lapeter Anton and Brad Brooks
PETERSBURG, Fla. – Growing Hurricane Milton approached Florida’s west coast Wednesday, spawning tornadoes and pummeling the region with rain and wind hours before expected landfall near Tampa Bay. This could lead to a life-threatening surge of seawater on the waterfront. Communities already affected by Hurricane Helen.
As many as 2 million people were ordered to evacuate across Florida, and millions more were directly in Milton’s projected path. Milton comes just two weeks after Helen devastated Florida and several other states.
Officials issued increasingly dire warnings Wednesday as landfall expected Wednesday night approaches.
Sarasota County Emergency Management Director Sandra Tapfumanei said those who remained on the county’s barrier island south of Tampa likely would not survive the storm surge.
“If you choose to stay, be sure to have a life preserver on hand,” she said during an appearance on CNN.
The storm, caused by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, was scheduled to hit the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people.
As of 5 p.m. EDT, the eye of the storm was 90 miles west-southwest of Sarasota, Florida, and was moving northeast at 17 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Strong tropical winds continued to batter the peninsula for hours.
Milton weakened slightly on Wednesday afternoon, becoming a Category 3 hurricane, the third-highest rating, but is increasing in size as it approaches Florida, calling it a “very dangerous major hurricane” with maximum sustained winds of 190 mph. The National Hurricane Center announced that .
The storm could cause ocean waters to rise up to 9 to 13 feet in some areas and dump 6 to 12 inches of rain, with up to 18 inches possible in some locations.
Milton is expected to maintain hurricane strength as it crosses the Florida peninsula, posing a storm surge threat to Florida’s Atlantic coast.
The National Weather Service confirmed at least a dozen tornadoes in Florida on Wednesday.
According to the Florida 511 website, four bridges across Tampa Bay were closed before the storm made landfall. Most streets in nearby St. Petersburg were largely empty by midday Wednesday, and it appears that almost everyone who decided to evacuate had done so.
Most of the banks connecting the Gulf breakwater islands to the mainland were also closed, leaving people determined to ride out the storm stranded despite pleas from authorities.
In Orlando, many said they had confidently fought off previous hurricanes, but after Milton’s rapid intensification and warnings from authorities, they are taking unusual precautions for the landlocked city. It became like that.
Jim Naginy, a 61-year-old homeless man who has lived in Orlando for nearly 30 years, said he survived previous hurricanes on the streets. But he decided to seek shelter during Milton and joined scores of other students at Colonial High School, where families huddled on the gymnasium floor, munching on bananas and sandwiches and enjoying the food provided by Orange County. I was drinking water.
“This seems different,” Naginy said. “After seeing what happened last week in North Carolina, it seems that unexpected disasters can occur in unfamiliar places. That’s why I decided to take shelter here.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urged residents to follow safety recommendations from local authorities during a White House briefing.
“It’s literally a matter of life and death,” Biden said.
Emergency preparedness
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator DeAnne Criswell said she would travel to Florida on Wednesday and remain there after the storm to help coordinate recovery efforts.
FEMA moved millions of liters of water, millions of meals, and other supplies and personnel to the area. He said none of the additional aid would undermine Hurricane Helen recovery efforts.
“I want people to hear my story directly. FEMA is ready,” she said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said trucks were working around the clock to remove the pile of debris left behind by Milton before it turned into a dangerous projectile.
Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said about 2.8% of U.S. gross domestic product flows directly through Milton. Airlines and energy companies are among the companies that have begun shutting down operations in Florida in preparation for the disruption.
Florida’s major theme parks were closed ahead of the storm, with Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld all closing late Wednesday.
According to the Florida Hospital Association, 19 hospitals were evacuated. Mobile homes, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities faced forced evacuations.
In Fort Myers, mobile home resident Jamie Watts and his wife took refuge in a hotel from Milton in 2022 after losing their previous trailer in Hurricane Ian.
“My wife is happy. We’re not living in a tin can,” Watts said.
“We stayed during Ian’s period and literally saw the roof ripped off the house,” he added. “So I’m going to be a little bit safer this time.”
Milton became the third fastest-intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, growing from Category 1 to Category 5 in less than 24 hours.
“These very high sea surface temperatures are providing the fuel necessary for the rapid intensification that we’re seeing,” said Daniel Guilford, a climate scientist at the nonprofit research group Climate Central. Ta.
“We know that humankind’s burning of mainly fossil fuels is increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and increasing global temperatures,” he added.
This article was generated from the Automata news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
