Florida braces for direct hit from Hurricane Milton

Floridians are preparing for what is expected to be the first major hurricane to directly hit the Tampa area in more than a century.

Hurricane Milton, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida late Wednesday evening. The storm is predicted to be a Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches shore, with winds of 111-129 mph, The Associated Press reported.

Milton intensified quickly over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Monday, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph, making it a Category 5 storm, the highest rating, as it continued to make its way to the west coast of the Florida panhandle.

By early Tuesday, the storm was downgraded to a still-dangerous Category 4 hurricane, with winds at 155 mph. The storm was centered about 560 miles southwest of Tampa early Tuesday and was moving east-northeast at 12 mph, according to the center.

The storm is forecast to turn to the northeast “with a slight increase in forward speed” later Tuesday, bringing Milton to shore by late Wednesday, the NHC said. It will remain a hurricane as it moves across the state. The forecast of the storm’s path is little changed from earlier predictions, but it is slightly slower than officials’ earlier predictions.

“It is worth emphasizing that this is a very serious situation and residents in Florida should closely follow orders from their local emergency management officials,” the NHC said. “Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.”

Much of the west coast of Florida is under mandatory evacuation orders, as Tampa and other areas are expected to see storm surge water levels reach 10 to 15 feet at peak high tide — the highest on record for the dense Tampa metro region.

Florida officials are urging the public to heed local officials’ evacuation orders immediately and not delay. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Monday that the state has suspended tolls to facilitate easier evacuations.

The latest storm comes as the Sunshine State is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in the Big Bend area of the state late last month as a Category 4 storm.