Hurricane Milton now Category 4, threatens Florida: What to know

Florida is bracing for Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall as early as Wednesday evening.

The storm comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on Florida’s coastline.

Here’s what to know about the hurricane, which has been deemed the worst to hit the state’s west coast in more than a century:

Expected landfall

The center of the storm system is expected to make landfall Wednesday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The storm system’s center is expected to come ashore in the Tampa Bay area, posing a risk to much of the western coastline and inland Florida. Forecasters say the storm could remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida on Thursday.

 

The NHC reported early Wednesday that Milton is 250 miles southwest of Tampa and is a Category 4 storm. 

Forecasters originally predicted the storm would be a Category 3, but it quickly intensified earlier this week over the Gulf of Mexico and became a Category 5. It’s predicted to decrease intensity as it approaches the coast, but experts warn it is still very dangerous. 

Winds are expected to increase on Florida’s west coast Wednesday afternoon. Maximum sustained winds are at 155 mph and a life-threatening storm surge 10 feet or higher is expected in some areas, and heavy rain could cause flooding.

Evacuations and cancellations

As many as 5.9 million people in Florida are under mandatory evacuation orders, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates. 

Orders have been sent to the Tampa area’s more than 3.3 million people as the storm heads for the city. 

Officials said Wednesday morning that preparations and evacuations should be “rushed to completion” early in the day. 

Officials say it could be the largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma in 2017, when about 7 million Floridians left their homes.

Residents are encouraged to take action immediately and heed their evacuation orders, whether they be mandatory, voluntary or specific to mobile homes.

Highways have been packed as people leave town and the demand for gas has left stations without fuel.

Here are the county evacuation orders, as of Wednesday morning:

Mandatory:

• Charlotte County
• Citrus County
• Collier County 
• Hernando County
• Hillsborough County
• Lee County
• Levy County
• Manatee County
• Marion County
• Pasco County
• Pinellas County
• Sarasota County
• St. Johns County
• Volusia County

Voluntary:

• Glades County
• Okeechobee County
• Dixie County
• Gilchrist County
• Hardee County
• Lake County
• Miami-Dade County
• Union County

Schools and events were canceled, too, ahead of the storm’s anticipated landfall.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s preseason NHL game Monday against the Nashville Predators was canceled, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers relocated to the New Orleans area for the week ahead of their Sunday NFL game against the Saints.

All road tolls were suspended in western central Florida.

The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it would close after the last flight Tuesday, and the Tampa International Airport said it planned to stop airline and cargo flights beginning Tuesday morning.

In Pinellas County, which includes St. Petersburg, all classes and school activities were closed Monday through Wednesday, as schools were being converted into shelters.

Walt Disney World and other Florida theme parks closed in preparation for the storm. 

Storm surges and flash flooding

Experts are warning of a “life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds” for large parts of the west coast of the Florida peninsula, beginning Tuesday night or early Wednesday.

Storm surge and hurricane watches were in effect by midday Monday for parts of the west coast of Florida.

The NHC warned of the increased risk that “the combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide” will bring to the area, saying it will “cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters.”

In Tampa Bay, the water could reach a height of 8 to 12 feet, and in Charlotte Harbor and other nearby coastal areas, the storm surge could reach 5 to 10 feet, the NHC said.

Milton is expected to bring rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches, with localized totals of up to 18 inches in parts of Florida and the Florida Keys, through Wednesday night, according to the NHC.

“This rainfall brings the risk of considerable flash, urban, and areal flooding, along with the potential for moderate to major river flooding,” the NHC said.

Warnings from officials

As the storm approached Florida’s Gulf Coast, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) warned residents about the heightened risk that loose debris from Hurricane Helene could bring to their communities.

State and local governments worked quickly to clean the debris before Milton’s arrival. DeSantis noted loose objects could become dangerous as the extremely high winds begin to lift objects and throw them around.

DeSantis said more than 300 state vehicles were picking up debris Sunday, but they initially encountered a problem when they hit a locked gate at a landfill. The Florida governor said state troopers tied a rope from the truck to the gate to bust it open.

“We don’t have time for bureaucracy and red tape,” DeSantis said. “We have to get the job done.”

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned residents to take the storm seriously at a news conference.

“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Castor said at the news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 percent of the time.”

Castor said earlier this week that if residents do not listen to the mandatory evacuation orders, they risk dying in the storm. 

President Biden also issued a dire warning, telling people Tuesday to evacuate “now, now, now” because it’s a “matter of life and death.”

What the National Weather Service is saying

The National Weather Service (NWS) and other expert forecasters zeroed in on the storm’s rapid growth as Milton reached 175 mph winds, exceeding the necessary threshold to be the most-dangerous Category 5 hurricane.

As of early Wednesday, maximum sustained winds remain near 160 mph and forecasters say it will remain an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” as it approaches land.

The NHC said Milton “explosively” intensified as it urged the public to follow local officials’ advice.

The NWS’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) noted the historic speed with which Milton grew.

“#Milton has rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm, the 3rd fastest rapid intensification in the Atlantic Basin behind Wilma (2005) and Felix (2007) per @NHC_Atlantic,” its account on the social platform X said, sharing a short satellite view of the storm “where you can see the eye becoming clearer.”

FEMA urged the public not to delay evacuating, if instructed to do so.

“If you’re in the path of Hurricane #Milton, the time to act is NOW. If evacuation orders are given, DO NOT DELAY—leave immediately. Staying could mean risking your life and the lives of those you care about,” FEMA warned Monday.

Experts have also noted that Tampa has not been hit directly by a hurricane in more than a century — not since the deadly 1921 hurricane that saw storm surges of 11 feet.

MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel, who has studied hurricanes for 40 years, told the Associated Press that, in the past century, Tampa’s population has exploded in size and is now largely unprepared for what’s to come. He called the hurricane a worst-case scenario for the area.

“It’s a huge population. It’s very exposed, very inexperienced and that’s a losing proposition,” Emanuel told the AP. “I always thought Tampa would be the city to worry about most.”

Emanuel also noted that the area is susceptible to flooding because of its physical features, including that it lies low.

The Associated Press contributed.

This story was first published at 3:06 p.m. EDT on Oct. 7.