Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, Tropical Storm Milton quickly strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday with its route directed at the state.
The storm is likely to make landfall on the state’s west coast on Wednesday, government forecasters warned.
Director of the National Hurricane Center Michael Brennan stated in a Sunday video update, “We are expecting Milton to be a hurricane as it moves across the state of Florida.”
“This is a storm that is going to be growing in size and bringing impacts to much of the Florida peninsula,” he stated.
With sustained gusts of 80 mph, the storm made its hurricane debut on Sunday afternoon and kept getting stronger as it took in moisture from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Milton is expected to intensify into a significant hurricane on Monday, which is equivalent to a Category 3, 4, or 5 storm, according to forecasters. The hurricane center and NBC News meteorologists predict that it will likely grow to a Category 4, which indicates sustained winds of 130 mph, in the Gulf before falling down to a Category 3, which is defined as sustained winds of at least 111 mph, at landfall.
Milton is anticipated to land in Hillsborough or Pinellas counties on Wednesday night, according to a statement made by Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday. He proactively declared 51 counties, including Pinellas County, to be under a state of emergency.
According to DeSantis, the state is cleaning up debris from Helene around-the-clock in preparation for Milton. According to him, Milton’s possible effects, which include storm surge and severe winds, might make an already dire situation worse.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, cleanup teams are clearing debris nonstop. About 45 more vehicles and 150 dump trucks helped in the endeavor earlier on Sunday.
Milton was located around 250 miles west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 780 miles west-southwest of Tampa as of Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. It was traveling eastward at 7 mph and churning out maximum sustained winds estimated to be 85 mph, with possible greater gusts, according to the hurricane center.
Milton is expected to proceed just north of the Yucatán Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday, traverse the southern Gulf of Mexico, and reach the west coast of the Florida Peninsula by Wednesday, according to the hurricane center’s prediction.
Concerns about storm surge
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast, a large portion of Florida’s west coast was under watch and warning for rain, wind, and storm surges due to the storm’s new hurricane designation on Sunday.
Brennan of the hurricane center stated that midweek hurricane-force winds were predicted for the west coast, extending from the southernmost point of the Big Bend to Naples. He said that there was a chance of potentially fatal storm surge along that section.
Federal forecasters stated that Milton was producing waves in the Gulf of Mexico ranging from 6 to 9 feet, which could potentially generate “life-threatening surf” on Florida’s typically small-wave west coast.
The storm, according to Brennan, may proceed down the Interstate 4 corridor, which connects Daytona Beach and Tampa, increasing the risk of significant river flooding as well as flash and urban floods. According to him, it may pass across the east coast municipalities from Jacksonville to Daytona, maybe even include the region from Orlando to Gainesville.
“Polk County is an inland county,” county emergency management director Paul Womble declared at a press conference on Sunday. “There are no storm evacuation zones here. We are evacuating mobile homes, RVs, and strong winds.”
Through Wednesday night, five to ten inches of rain, with up to fifteen inches in some places, are predicted for various regions of the Florida Peninsula and Florida Keys. Flash floods and moderate to severe river flooding are also possible.
According to the hurricane center, the system may also bring 2 to 4 inches of rain to parts of the northern Yucatán Peninsula, where storm surge may cause water levels to rise by 2 to 4 feet above sea level. In the vicinity of the coast, “large and destructive waves” are normal.
From Celestun to Cabo Catoche, the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula was under a hurricane watch. Additionally, there is a tropical storm warning in effect from Celestun to Cancun.
The Florida Keys, the Bahamas, the Florida Peninsula, and individuals in these areas are all being advised by the hurricane center to keep a careful eye on this storm in case it has any possible effects.
Locals are advised to get ready
Authorities asked those living near the state’s west coast to think about leaving early in order to minimize traffic congestion.
DeSantis advised, “Have a plan, and execute the plan.” “You may leave right now. You are not need to wait for an order to evacuate.
There will probably be both required and voluntary evacuations in “a number of communities,” most likely the barrier islands, according to DeSantis. Officials have stated that a mandatory evacuation of Anna Maria Island would be imposed on Monday afternoon.
According to a county executive order, officials in Pinellas County, which is located on the Tampa Bay peninsula, ordered residential healthcare institutions along low-lying and coastal zones to evacuate until further notice beginning Sunday afternoon.
Manatee County officials said on social networking platform X that those living in low-lying and coastal areas to the immediate south should begin evacuating on Monday afternoon. At that time, they also urged occupants of mobile homes and RVs to leave.
Ahead of Milton’s arrival, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava stated on X that she had issued a local state of emergency out of caution.
Due to the impending hurricane, school districts in Pasco, Sarasota, and Hillsborough counties declared that classes will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.
In case of an evacuation on Tuesday, Polk County, which is south of Orlando, planned to open special needs and public shelters in addition to activating a citizen information phone line and beginning to distribute sandbags on Sunday, according to posts made on Facebook.
Images taken from a Bradenton Walmart showed all of the water, paper towels, and toilet paper entirely removed from the shelves.
A family in Port Charlotte was shown in a social media video erecting storm shutters on their patio door in preparation for the impending hurricane.
An uncommon route
Florida has only been hit by two hurricanes that started in the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf since 1850. Milton would be the third if it continued on its current course.
Earth scientists have linked the 2 to 4 degree increase in sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico to climate change and the swift strengthening of storms such as Milton.
Following September, the Atlantic is experiencing three hurricanes at once for the first time ever recorded, including Kirk and Leslie.
Milton, which ties with 2004, 2005, and 1893 for the second-highest number of landfalls ever recorded, will be the fifth hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in 2024.
Ten days have passed since Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend coast on September 26. During her storm, which swept north across the Gulf and left a dozen people dead in Pinellas County, houses and businesses in the Tampa Bay region damaged or destroyed.
At least 235 people have died as a result of Hurricane Helene in six states, according to the 25 recorded statewide deaths.
