Milton intensified again this Tuesday in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and once again became a Category 5 hurricane as it approaches the west coast of Florida, where it is expected to impact Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center reported. (NHC, in English) of the United States.
In its most recent bulletin, the NHC warned that “Florida residents should prepare” at home and evacuate if directed by local authorities.
The “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Milton, which increased in size this Tuesday as it approaches the west coast of Florida, currently has maximum sustained winds of 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles).
The system is located 520 kilometers (320 miles) west-southwest of Dry Tortugas, in the Florida Keys, and 775 kilometers (480 miles) southwest of Tampa, on the central west coast of Florida.
On the NHC’s forecast track, the center of Milton will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today and tomorrow and “make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida on Wednesday night,” before crossing the peninsula and go out to the Atlantic.
While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton “is forecast to remain a dangerous major hurricane when it lands on the central west coast” and exits into the Atlantic waters on Thursday, they warned.
There is great concern about the storm surge that Milton can cause in Tampa Bay, between 10 and 15 feet high (3 to 4.5 meters). Tropical storm-force winds could reach the Tampa Bay area as early as Wednesday morning.
“Devastating winds” are also expected along parts of Florida’s west coast, where a hurricane warning is in effect. The forecast from NHC meteorologists is that Milton “will remain a hurricane as it crosses the Florida peninsula.”
They insisted on highlighting the importance that “preparations to protect life and property” must be completed no later than tonight, in addition to being ready for “long-duration power outages.”
The heavy rains that Milton will dump across the Florida peninsula through Thursday will carry “the risk of catastrophic flash and urban flooding,” especially in areas where coastal and inland flooding combine.
Unusual notices
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, warned this Tuesday that Hurricane Milton could be the “worst” to hit the state of Florida in a century and asked people in the path of the storm to evacuate as soon as possible. .
For his part, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said this afternoon in a press conference that residents have a short amount of time left to execute their evacuation plans before Hurricane Milton makes landfall, probably this Wednesday. the night.
“You should be executing your plan now. If you are going to leave, leave now,” DeSantis urged the population residing in the areas most exposed to Milton’s onslaught.
Florida, still trying to recover from the damage from Helene, continues to prepare for the largest evacuation since 2017 due to the threat of Milton, which will cross almost the entire state from west to east.
Satellite photograph provided this Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of the US National Hurricane Center with the advance of Milton.
Emergency preparations
Gas stations in Florida are facing fuel shortages amid one of the largest evacuations ordered in recent years in the face of Hurricane Milton. Following mandatory evacuation orders, at least in seven counties on the west coast of Florida, thousands of people have already left their homes and are crowding the roads by car to the south and north of the state to flee the hurricane that is expected to arrive on Wednesday. at night.
More than a thousand gas stations in many areas of Florida have run out of fuel due to the massive departure of residents who leave the areas under threat and seek to fill their tanks, according to GasBuddy, a service that tracks gasoline prices and stocks throughout the country.
This Tuesday, about 100 stations in Tampa Bay were out of gas among the nearly 300 that the app tracks in that area. Fuel tanker trucks are being escorted to gas stations along evacuation routes in Florida to get to gas stations faster.
Authorities have also urged owners of electric vehicles to take them to higher ground before the storm arrives, due to the possibility of them catching fire after flooding.
Milton has also caused the cancellation of more than 1,500 flights in the United States for Wednesday as it approaches the west coast of Florida.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.es
