Bellaire Beach, Fla. (AP) — Milton strengthened rapidly Monday and became a Category 5 hurricane on a track. Towards FloridaDirectly hitting and threatening the densely populated Tampa area Same coastal area Hurricane Helen hit two weeks ago.
The center of the storm could make landfall on Wednesday Tampa Bay The region has not endured a major hurricane strike in over a century. Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, although the hurricane could maintain strength as it winds across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. This will save other states a lot Destroyed by HelenIt killed at least 230 people in its path from Florida Appalachian Mountains.
“This is the real deal with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said at a news conference. “If you’re willing to accept Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.”
AP AUDIO: Milton has strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane as Florida braces for mass evacuations, reporter Julie Walker reports.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday that debris from Helen needs to be cleared before Milton’s arrival so the pieces can’t become projectiles.
As evacuation orders were issued, forecasters warned of a storm surge of 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of widespread flooding in mainland Florida and the Keys. , up to 15 inches (38 cm) in places. The Tampa metro area is home to over 3.2 million people.
“It’s a huge population. It’s too exposed, too inexperienced, and it’s a failed proposition,” said MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel. “I always thought Tampa would be the city to worry about the most.”
Much of Florida’s west coast was under a hurricane and storm surge watch. Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, which often floods during severe storms, was also under a hurricane watch. A hurricane warning has been issued for parts of Mexico’s Yucatan state, which is expected to make landfall.
Compact Milton intensified rapidly in the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Monday. It had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (282 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s center was about 700 miles (1,126 kilometers) southwest of Tampa at noon, moving east-southeast at 9 mph (15 km/h).
The Tampa Bay area is still recovering from Helen and its powerful surge. Twelve people died, with the worst damage to a string of barrier islands from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.
In a race to clear the aftermath from Helen, more than 300 vehicles collected the debris on Sunday but faced a locked landfill gate when they tried to drop it. State troopers used a rope tied to a pickup truck to break it open, DeSantis said.
“We don’t have time for bureaucracy and red tape,” DeSantis said.
‘It will be flying missiles’
Lifeguards in Pinellas County, on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay, removed beach chairs and other items that could be blown away by strong winds. Elsewhere, piles of stoves, chairs, refrigerators and kitchen tables awaited.
Pellier Beach resident Sarah Steslicki said she was frustrated that more trash wasn’t collected sooner.
“They were hanging around and not picking up trash, and now they’re scrambling to pick it up,” Steslicki said Monday morning. “If it hits, it’s going to be flying missiles. Things will float in the air and fly away.
Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, ordered the evacuation of areas along Tampa Bay and all mobile and manufactured homes by Tuesday night.
President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Monday, and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were being mobilized to help in the largest mobilization of federal workers in history.
Reluctance to vacate
Milton’s approach evoked memories of 2017’s Hurricane Irma, when about 7 million people were urged to evacuate Florida, gridlocked highways and clogged gas stations. Some left He vowed never to vacate again.
As of Monday morning, some gas stations in the Fort Myers and Tampa areas were already out of gas. Fuel continued to arrive in Florida, and the state has stockpiled hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, with more on the way, DeSantis said.
A steady flow of vehicles headed north on Interstate 75, the main highway on the peninsula’s west side toward the Florida Panhandle, as residents heeded evacuation orders. Traffic clogged the southbound lanes of the highway for miles as other residents headed for the relative safety of Fort Lauderdale and Miami on the other side of the state.
Although Tanya Marunczak’s Bellaire Beach home was flooded by 4 feet (1.2 meters) of water from Helen, she and her husband didn’t know whether they would have to leave Monday morning. She wanted to leave, but her husband thought their three-story house was sturdy enough to hold Milton.
“We lost all our cars, all our furniture. The first floor was completely destroyed,” said Marunchak. “This is the weirdest weather predicament ever.”
If residents don’t leave, it can endanger first responders or make rescue impossible: “If you stay there, you could die, and my men and women could die trying to rescue you,” said Hillsborough Fire Rescue Chief Jason Dougherty.
Why did Milton escalate so fast?
Milton’s wind speed peaked at 92 mph (148 km/h) in 24 hours—a speed only trailing Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and Hurricane Felix in 2007. said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
The storm may go through what’s called an eyewall overturning circulation, which creates a new eye and expands the storm’s size but weakens its wind speed, Klotzbach said.
The Gulf of Mexico is unusually warm right now, so “the fuel is still there,” and Milton may have passed over an extra-warm vortex that helped it further duck, said University at Albany hurricane scientist Kristen Carbociero.
Hurricane Michael was a Category 5 hurricane in 2018 that hit the mainland United States.
Widespread cancellations in Florida
As the storm approached, school activities were suspended in Pinellas County in St. Petersburg, and schools were turned into shelters. Officials in Tampa offered residents city garages in hopes of protecting their cars from flooding.
All road tolls in west-central Florida are suspended. St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it would close after the last flight on Tuesday, and Tampa International Airport said it planned to ground airline and cargo flights beginning Tuesday. Orlando International Airport, the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s busiest airport, said it would suspend operations Wednesday morning.
Walt Disney World said it is currently operating as normal.
It’s been two decades since so many storms hit Florida in such a short period of time. In 2004, Florida was hit by an unprecedented five storms within six weeks, including three hurricanes that hit central Florida.
Other parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast are still recovering from the storm. The Fort Myers area in southwest Florida is still rebuilding from Hurricane Ian, which caused $112 billion in damage in 2022. Three hurricanes have hit Florida’s Big Bend region in just 13 months, including Helen.
Just 100 feet from the water on Fort Myers Beach, Don Girard was preparing his three-story home for Milton. The house was flooded by Helen two weeks ago, and by Debbie in August, after the recent supermoon sent waves crashing onto the second floor.
“It’s been tough. I’m not going to lie to you,” Girard said. “The last two years have been rough.”
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Schneider reported from Orlando. Associated Press writers Kate Payne in Tampa, Terry Spencer in Fort Myers Beach, Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee contributed to this report.
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