Florida, the US ‘Sunshine State’ is bracing for Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 story that could make history as one of five most intense storms in Atlantic history, a US extreme weather trackers said on his X handle on October 8, 2024.
“Hurricane Milton’s minimum pressure has dropped to the infamous sub-900 mb mark, with a central pressure of 897 mb, making it the 5th most intense hurricane in Atlantic history by central pressure,” Colin McCarthy noted.
Meanwhile, the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC), in its last bulletin on October 7, outlined the magnitude of the seriousness that Milton posed to Florida: “Category 5 Hurricane #Milton near the northern Yucatan Peninsula. The hurricane poses an extremely serious risk to Florida,” it said in a post on its X handle at 10 pm local time.
Milton will grow in size and remain an extremely dangerous hurricane when it approaches the west (Gulf) coast of Florida on October 9. News agency Reuters cited the NHC as saying that Milton will likely make landfall near the heavily populated Tampa Bay area. This is expected to make matters more complicated.
The NHC has also warned of a large area of destructive storm surge occurring along parts of Florida’s west coast on October 9. “This is an extremely life-threatening situation and residents of those areas should follow advice given by local officials and evacuate immediately if told to do so,” it added.
Milton will remain a hurricane as it crosses the Florida Peninsula. Life-threatening hurricane winds, especially in gusts, are expected to spread inland across a portion of the entire Peninsula, warned the NHC.
Rainfall due to the system will start on October 8 night and continue till October 10 morning. This could lead to flash, urban and river flooding.
Florida, already battered by Hurricane Helene which made landfall on September 26, is taking no chances. “As of this afternoon, Hurricane Milton has strengthened into a major Category 5 hurricane. Evacuations are underway, and we have suspended tolls and opened roadway shoulders to make it easier for Floridians to get to safety. You do not need to travel hundreds of miles from home to evacuate safely—every county has pet-friendly shelters, special needs shelters, and other options that are safe from storm surge,” Governor Ron DeSantis posted on his X handle on October 7.
Reuters quoted Bob Gualtieri, sheriff of Pinellas County, as ordering mandatory evacuations of almost half a million people in low lying areas.