Category 4 Hurricane Milton Threatens Florida

Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Forecast models vary widely, but suggest that “Milton” could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves through central Florida to the Atlantic Ocean.

Freida Frisaro – The Associated Press in Fort Lauderdale

Published at 9:06 a.m. Updated at 10:34 a.m.

• United States

Miltonrapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane Monday as it made landfall in Florida’s populous hubs, including Tampa and Orlando, setting the stage for possible mass evacuations less than two weeks after the catastrophic Helene slammed into the coastline.

The storm is expected to maintain roughly its current strength for the next two days, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Helene was also a Category 4 when it made landfall in northern Florida.

Milton has packed maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) across the southern Gulf of Mexico. Its center could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area, and it could maintain hurricane characteristics as it moves through central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean.

That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people along its path from northern Florida to the Appalachian Mountains.

The center of Miltonwas about 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of Progreso, Mexico, and about 730 miles (1,185 kilometers) southwest of Tampa early Monday, moving east-southeast at 8 mph (13 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center.

Photo: Bryan R. Smith Agence France-Presse A Palm Harbor resident boards up his windows as Hurricane “Milton” approaches.

The hard-hit state

Milton is a bit of an outlier because it formed so far to the west and is expected to track across the entire southern Gulf, according to Daniel Brown, a hurricane specialist at the national hurricane center.

“It's not uncommon to have a hurricane threat in October along the west coast of Florida, but for it to form all the way down the southwest Gulf and then hit Florida is a little more unusual,” Brown said. Most of the storms that form in October and hit Florida come from the Caribbean, not the southwestern Gulf, he said.

Meteorologists warned that a storm surge of 8 to 12 feet could occur in Tampa Bay and that flash and river flooding could result from 5 to 10 inches of rain on the Florida mainland and the Keys, with up to 15 inches in some places.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen where Milton will hit, it was clear the state would be hit hard.

“I don't think there's a scenario where we don't have major impacts at this point,” he said.

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Mass evacuations expected

Around seven million people were asked to evacuate Florida in 2017, when Hurricane Irmastruck the state. The exodus blocked highways and caused hours-long lines at gas stations that still had fuel. The event frustrated many evacuees, some of whom vowed not to evacuate again.

“We are preparing for … the largest evacuation we've had, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma,” Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said at a news briefing Sunday.

The Tampa Bay area is still cleaning up after Helene and its powerful surge. Twelve people died when Helene swamped the coast, with the worst damage occurring along the narrow, 20-mile chain of barrier islands that stretches from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.

Mr. DeSantis expanded his 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 are prepared to hit the road.

The arrival of Milton to hurricane status marks the first time the Atlantic has seen three hurricanes at once after September, according to Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State University. There were four simultaneous hurricanes in August and September.

As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews remove debris, DeSantis said, and he has ordered Florida crews sent to North Carolina after Helene to return in preparation for Milton.

FEMA is also preparing

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell defended her agency’s response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene after false claims by Republicans, amplified by former President Donald Trump, created a frenzy of misinformation in devastated communities.

They have peddled some conspiracy theories, including one claiming that Washington is delaying aid delivery to affected areas whose elected officials are republicans.

“That kind of rhetoric doesn't help people and it's really unfortunate that we're putting politics ahead of helping people,” Criswell told ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

Even so, Criswell said the agency was already preparing for Milton, well before it was known exactly where the storm would move across the Florida panhandle.

Federal disaster aid has topped $137 million since Helene struck more than a week ago, one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and resources in recent history, the agency said Sunday. FEMA.

According to FEMA, the White House and the Department of Defense, some 1,500 active-duty troops, more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and nearly 7,000 federal workers have deployed, shipping more than 14.9 million meals, 13.9 million gallons of water, 157 generators and 505,000 tarps, as well as approving more than $30 million in housing and other assistance to more than 27,000 households.

“My administration is sparing no resources to support families as they begin their path to rebuilding,” President Joe Biden said. “We will continue to work hand-in-hand with local and state leaders, regardless of party affiliation and no matter how long it takes.”