Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane with winds reaching 160mph, as the potential “once in a lifetime” storm charts its path towards the already storm-battered Florida coast.
Milton is situated in the Southern Gulf of Mexico and is moving “erratically” northwest where it is expected to hit the heavily-populated Tampa Bay area by Wednesday.
The Pinellas County Sheriff issued a warning ahead of the storm’s prospective landfall, with Floridians asked to brace for what could be the largest evacuation since 2017’s Hurricane Irma.
“This is going to be bad. That’s all you need to know,” Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during an emergency conference on Sunday. “Everyone just needs to get out.”
Milton is racing towards areas already devastated by Hurricane Helene, which struck northern Florida on 26 September and caused more than 220 deaths across the Southeast.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned the storm surge and power outages could exceed those caused by Helene, especially given the leftover debris. “There are some areas with a lot of debris… if hit by a major hurricane, it’s going to dramatically increase damage,” he said.
President Joe Biden is due to be briefed this afternoon.
If you stay you will die, says Tampa mayor
The mayor of Tampa has issued a stark warning to residents, saying that if you remain in an evacuation zone “you will die”.
That’s according to Spectrum News producer John Park, and it’s just one of many incredibly blunt assessments of Hurricane Milton we’re now hearing from officials and experts.
“This is nothing short of astronomical. I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe to you the storm’s small eye and intensity,” said local weatherman Noah Bergren.
He said the eye of the hurricane was “tiny” at merely 3.8 miles wide, and that the storm was “nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce”.
Io Dodds8 October 2024 02:42
Milton may be worst storm to hit Tampa area in over a century
Julia Musto8 October 2024 02:30
Sarasota County will begin shutting off water services Tuesday morning
At 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Sarasota County Public Utilities will begin shutting off potable water services and lift stations for wastewater services to customers on Siesta Key and Casey Key.
“This precautionary measure protects the community’s infrastructure, which may be inundated by storm surge and high winds,” the county said on Facebook. “Sarasota County Public Utilities team members are prepared to deploy when conditions are safe and restore water services to those who are impacted. As a reminder, when potable water services return, these areas will be under a boil water notice.”
Julia Musto8 October 2024 02:00
Time lapse shows lightning flashing within the hurricane
Here is stunning time lapse of lightning flashing within the swirling mass of Hurricane Milton, courtesy of Colorado State University’s CIRA weather research institute.
Io Dodds8 October 2024 01:50
Harris says DeSantis is being ‘selfish’ after reports the governor is ignoring her calls ahead of Milton
“Playing political games at this moment … It’s utterly irresponsible and it is selfish and it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do,” Vice President Kamala Harris said, speaking from Joint Base Andrews.
Julia Musto8 October 2024 01:40
Air pressure drop makes Milton the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane ever
Air pressure in the eye of Hurricane Milton has fallen to a near record low of 897 millibars, the National Hurricane Center has said.
The agency said on X (formerly Twitter) about 20 minutes ago that the storm “poses an extremely serious threat” to Florida residents.
According to New Zealand meteorologist Ben Noll, that makes Milton the fifth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, stronger than 2005’s devastating Hurricane Katrina at its peak.
It is only the sixth ever Atlantic hurricane on record to register a central pressure of below 900 millibars, he added.
(”hPa” in Noll’s tweet stands for hectopascals, an equivalent unit of measurement to the millibar.)
Io Dodds8 October 2024 01:25
Harris hits ‘misinformation’ pushed by President Trump amid Helene, Milton response: It’s ‘extraordinarily irresponsible’
“There’s a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former president about what is available, in particular, to the survivors of Helene … It’s extraordinarily irresponsible,” Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday, speaking from Joint Base Andrews. “It’s about him. It’s not about you. And, the reality is that FEMA has so many resources that are available to folks who desperately need them.”
Julia Musto8 October 2024 01:20
Social media videos, images show Floridians fleeing areas forecast to be impacted by Milton
Julia Musto8 October 2024 01:00
St. Petersburg officials warn storm surge from Milton could be greater than Helene’s
In St. Petersburg, officials warned residents flooding could be twice as great as during Hurricane Helene.
“Our community now faces an ever more daunting challenge,” Mayor Ken Welch said. “This is a powerful storm. More powerful than Helene with more potential storm surge.”
With reporting from The Associated Press
Julia Musto8 October 2024 00:30