Hurricane Milton ‘explodes’ into Category 5 as Florida braces for ‘life-threatening’ 180-mph winds: Live
Floridians asked to brace for what could be the largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma in 2017 as Milton upgraded to devastating Category 5 hurricane
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Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane with winds reaching 160mph, as the potential “once in a lifetime” storm charts its path towards the already storm-battered Florida coast.
Milton is situated in the Southern Gulf of Mexico and is moving “erratically” northwest where it is expected to hit the heavily-populated Tampa Bay area by Wednesday.
The Pinellas County Sheriff issued a warning ahead of the storm’s prospective landfall, with Floridians asked to brace for what could be the largest evacuation since 2017’s Hurricane Irma.
“This is going to be bad. That’s all you need to know,” Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during an emergency conference on Sunday. “Everyone just needs to get out.”
Milton is racing towards areas already devastated by Hurricane Helene, which struck northern Florida on 26 September and caused more than 220 deaths across the Southeast.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned the storm surge and power outages could exceed those caused by Helene, especially given the leftover debris. “There are some areas with a lot of debris... if hit by a major hurricane, it’s going to dramatically increase damage,” he said.
President Joe Biden is due to be briefed this afternoon.
Mapped: Charting Hurricane Milton’s path as it heads for Florida
Tropical Storm Milton could hit Florida as a major hurricane midweek
Florida prepares for massive evacuations as Hurricane Milton takes aim at major metro areas
Death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 227 as grim task of recovering bodies continues
Milton intensifies into a Category 5 hurricane
Milton has intensified into a powerful, Category 5 hurricane.
Biden declares state of emergency as Hurricane Milton races toward Florida
President Joe Biden has declared a state-wide emergency across Florida as Hurricane Milton charges towards Tampa Bay, with it expected to make landfall on Wednesday night.
The president has ordered federal assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support state, tribal and local response efforts, according to a White House statement issued on Monday.
They will attempt to alleviate “the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures,” the statement read.
FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer John Brogan has been appointed to coordinate federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
Milton expect to grow in size with winds to slow as it makes landfall
Milton is expected to grow in size as it makes landfall, despite winds predicted to slow, the National Hurricane Center Director Dr Michael Brennan said in a live update on Monday morning.
Hurricane Milton, which is currently situated in the Southern Gulf of Mexico, has sustained wind speeds of 155mph, with it expected to become a Category 5 hurricane.
“While we could see the peak winds come down a little bit, the storm is expected to grow in size as it nears landfall along the Florida west coast on Wednesday,” Dr Brennan said.
“It now extends inland places like Ocala, Orlando, the west of Lake Okeechobee, Pole County, Lakeland to the Cedar Key area.
“Everyone in this area is at risk of seeing damaging hurricane-force winds during Wednesday, into Wednesday night.”
Hurricane watches are expected to extend to the east coast of Florida later today, according to Dr Brennan.
Milton forecast to become Category 5 hurricane
Milton is expected become a Category 5 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm currently has sustained wind speeds of 155mph, just 2mph slower than what the Saffir-Simpson scale defines as Category 5.
Hurricane Milton is currently 720 miles away from Tampa, where it’s expected to make landfall on Wednesday evening. Evacuation orders have been dispatched across Florida’s west coast.
‘No shortage of fuel,’ DeSantis says
“There is no shortage of fuel at this time. The fuel is still coming in and being delivered to our ports,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during an emergency press conference on Monday.
“We have 415,000 gallons of diesel, almost 390,000 gallons of gasoline and an additional 1.5m gallons of both diesel and gasoline that are on route to the state of Florida.”
“Fuel deliveries will continue” throughout today, he added.
DeSantis: ‘Milton already 10mph faster than Helene – and it’s going to strengthen’
Ron DeSantis predicts that Hurricane Helene will continue to strengthen over the next 24 hours, with sustained wind speeds already 10mph faster than Hurricane Helene that slammed into Florida a week and a half ago.
Milton was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane on Monday morning, with winds surpassing 150mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Milton is already 10mph faster than Helene was,” the Florida governor said during an emergency press conference.
“[It’s] definitely going to strengthen more from 150mph over the next 24 hours.”
DeSantis calls for ‘no more red tape’ and urges Floridians to clear up debris
Ron DeSantis called for “no more red tape” and urged Florida residents to clear up debris ahead of Milton making landfall.
The Florida governor warned Floridians of the “additional damage from flying debris,” adding “you could end up having way worse damage because of that”
“We’ve made a huge dent in the debris, but there is a lot of it,” he said. “We need to go all day, all through the night; tomorrow, as long as possible.”
He added: “No bureaucracy, no more red tape, no more excuses about the debris.”
DeSantis ordered locks to be cut from landfill centers so residents could deposit debris
Ron DeSantis said that locks have been cut off landfill centers after they closed their doors after being asked to stay open in order for people to deposit debris following Hurricane Helene – ahead of Milton making landfall on Wednesday.
“The gate was closed and no one was manning it, so we opened it and got it going,” the Florida governor said during a press conference on Monday.
‘Do it now’: DeSantis calls of Florida residents on the west coast to evacuate
Governor Ron DeSantis has urged Floridians along the state’s west coast to assume that they will be told to evacuate.
“All these barrier islands, all these areas that would be susceptible to this storm surge that’s up and down the west coast of Florida, you should assume that there’s going to be some form of evacuation that’s going to be issued by your county officials,” he said during an emergency news conference on Monday morning.
“That is going to happen when you have the potential for storm surge of this magnitude,” DeSantis added. “You have time to execute your plan, but you’ve got to do it now,” said DeSantis.
Milton rapidly intensifies to Category 4 hurricane with 150mph winds
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