About 51 Florida counties have been placed under a state of emergency as Hurricane Milton looks set to hit. The storm has been reclassified as a Category 4 storm.
Hurricane Milton weakened from a Category 3 to a Category 4 on Monday as it strengthened over the southern Gulf of Mexico.
The weather system is moving toward Florida’s population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm in Tampa Bay.
State of emergency declared
Late Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 51 of the state’s 67 counties, saying Milton could have “major, major impacts” with storm surges of up to 20 feet ( 20 feet) of water. The news prompted Floridians to prepare for their largest evacuation in seven years since Hurricane Irma devastated the state in 2017.
As early as Sunday, Gulf Coast residents complained of chaos at gas stations and heavy traffic on the highway with already heavy rain.
“Right now, we’re still cleaning up Helene,” Jane Castor, mayor of the coastal city of Tampa, told CNN.
Florida expects ‘major impacts’
Governor DeSantis said that while it remains to be seen where Milton will land, people should brace themselves because the state will likely be hit hard.
“I don’t think there’s a scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said. “You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, maybe all day Tuesday to make sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” DeSantis said. “If you’re on this west coast of Florida, in the barrier islands, assume you’re going to be asked to leave.”
At least 230 people have been killed by Hurricane Helene, which swept through the southeastern United States less than two weeks ago.
US President Joe Biden said his administration was preparing “vital resources” ahead of Milton’s expected arrival on Wednesday morning.
