US officials are warning about the potentially life-threating impacts of Hurricane Milton as it barrels towards the Florida coast. Evacuating before Milton hits is a matter of 'life and death', says Biden as thousands evacuate their homes with the country preparing for the worst storm to hit the area the last century.
HDN Newsroom
Hurricane Milton is one of the most powerful storms to form in the North Atlantic the last century and it comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused substantial damage across the US.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Milton to make landfall as an "extremely dangerous hurricane" in the US state of Florida on Wednesday night, local time.
It could strike near the city of Tampa, whose wider metropolitan area has a population of more than three million people.
Forecasters are warning of torrential rain, flash flooding, high winds and possible storm surges - which occur when water moves inland from the coast.
They say Milton could be the worst storm to hit the area in about a century - with a surge of 10-15ft (3-4.5m) possible, and localised rainfall of up to 1.5ft.
President Joe Biden has warned people in Florida to evacuate as a "matter of life and death" ahead of category four Hurricane Milton's landfall in the state.
Milton has weakened slightly from a category five, but is still packing ferocious winds of up to 145mph (233km/h) after brushing past the northern edge of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
The storm is expected to slam into the heavily populated city of Tampa Bay with full force on Wednesday night, less than two weeks after the state was hit by the devastating Hurricane Helene.
Floridians have been told to prepare for the state's largest evacuation effort in years.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, President Biden said the storm could be one of Florida's worst in a century.
"Evacuate now, now, now," he told Florida residents, vowing that the federal government would help the state "before, during and after" the hurricane hits.
Thousands of federal personnel are also being deployed, Biden added.
Governor Ron DeSantis said Florida had prepared dozens of shelters to help house residents left stranded in the storm.
"We have one of the sites that can do 10,000," he said in a news briefing. "Others will do multiple thousands. But these are designed to be a shelter of last resort."
In wake of the storm, the White House said Biden cancelled a planned visit to Germany and Angola in order to oversee preparations for Milton, in addition to ongoing recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene.
The government of the Bahamas has now also issued a tropical storm watch for parts of the island nation, including Grand Bahama Island, the Abacos and Bimini.
Less than two weeks ago Hurricane Helene - the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005 - pummelled the US south-east, killing at least 225 people. Hundreds more are missing.
At least 14 of those deaths were in Florida, where 51 of 67 counties are now under emergency warnings as Milton approaches.
While the hurricane weakened on Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center warned that it could double in size before striking Florida on Wednesday.
"Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida," the update said.
In a mid-morning update on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said that sustained winds had reached 150mph, down from 180mph the night before.
Hurricanes are separated into five categories based on their wind speed.
Those reaching category three and higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant loss of life and damage, according to the National Weather Service.
The National Hurricane Center has warned that life-threatening storm surges and damaging winds along portions of Florida's west coast were possible from late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
Rainfall totals could reach localised highs of 15in (38cm), and coastal areas could see storm surges of 10-15ft (3-4.5m).
"Use today as your day to finalise and execute the plan that is going to protect you and your family," DeSantis told residents on Tuesday.
An annotated satellite image, dated 06:50 GMT on 8 October, shows the position of Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads towards Tampa Bay in Florida
Counties began issuing evacuation orders on Monday, with tolls suspended on roads in western and central Florida.
Long queues at petrol stations began forming in south Florida, with some reports of stations running out of fuel.
Traffic congestion in some areas has increased by as much as 90% above average, DeSantis said.
School closures in several counties begun on Tuesday.
Keith Turi, a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), said on Tuesday: "I’m encouraged by the amount of evacuation that’s going on right now.
Airports in Tampa and Orlando announced they would be suspending flight operations from Tuesday because of the storm.
Hurricane Milton continues to pose a grave danger to Florida, where its potentially historic strike will bring destructive, life-threatening storm surge, widespread wind damage, flooding rainfall and tornadoes beginning Wednesday.
"Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida," the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its Tuesday morning discussion.
All preparations should be rushed to completion on Tuesday and if you're in an area prone to storm surge, follow the advice of local officials and evacuate if ordered. This is a serious situation with the NHC forecasting a storm surge as much as 10 to 15 feet above ground level along the western Florida Gulf Coast, including the Tampa Bay area, if the peak surge arrives at high tide.
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Here's the latest status on Milton: The hurricane is centered 545 miles southwest of Tampa. It's a strong Category 4 packing 150 mph winds as of 11 a.m. EDT and is tracking east-northeast at 9 mph.
Milton has grown in size over the last 24 hours, with tropical-storm-force winds now up to 105 miles from its center. It will continue to grow even larger on approach to Florida, which means its impacts will affect a big area.
Milton reached a maximum intensity of 180 mph on Monday, making it one of the most intense Atlantic Basin hurricanes on record.
An eyewall replacement cycle has caused Milton to undergo some decrease in intensity overnight, but it remains a serious threat to Florida.
The latest NHC forecast calls for storm surge to be as much as 10 to 15 feet above ground level if the peak surge coincides with high tide along the west-central Florida Gulf Coast, including Tampa Bay. Damaging storm surge could be as much as 6 to 10 feet as far south as Charlotte Harbor and Fort Myers Beach.
Storm surge will be most destructive near and to the south of where the storm’s center crosses the coast. If you're in an area prone to storm surge, you should follow the advice of local officials and evacuate if ordered.
If the storm surge forecast materializes for the Tampa Bay, it would be the highest there in more than a century. A track near or north of the bay would bring the highest surge potential there, while a track a bit farther south would shift the worst surge southward.
Storm surge should start building up on Wednesday before likely peaking Wednesday night into early Thursday.
An isolated tornado threat may develop in much of west-central and southern Florida by Tuesday night.
The threat of a few tornadoes will then continue Wednesday and Wednesday night in the central and southern Florida Peninsula.
An isolated tornado threat could linger into Thursday in east-central and southern Florida.
With info from the Weather Channel and BBC
