Hurricane Milton Barrels Toward Florida’s West Coast as Powerful Category 5

Residents of the battered Gulf Coast of Florida hurried to clear debris from Hurricane Helene as Hurricane Milton increased to Category 5 Tuesday afternoon and was projected to make landfall on Wednesday.

As of Tuesday, most of Florida’s west coast was under hurricane or tropical storm warnings as Milton churned off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula with winds of 156 miles per hour. Both Milton and Helene gained strength from exceptionally warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Milton is expected to maintain major hurricane strength while it moves across the Gulf of Mexico and approaches the west coast of Florida. Stronger vertical shear is expected to set in about 24 hours, but even if this causes some weakening, it will not be enough to keep Milton from being an extremely dangerous hurricane when it reaches shore,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday. “Milton’s wind field is expected to expand as it approaches Florida. In fact, the official forecast shows the hurricane and tropical-storm-force winds roughly doubling in size by the time it makes landfall. Therefore, damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge, and heavy rainfall will extend well outside the forecast cone.”

Hurricane Milton was predicted to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area — home to 3.3 million residents — Wednesday night. The area has not experienced a direct hit from a major hurricane since 1921.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told residents evacuating didn’t have to mean a long trip.

“You do not have to get on the interstate and go far away,” DeSantis said at a news conference, as The Associated Press reported. “You can evacuate tens of miles. You do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles away. You do have options.”

Not everyone felt the need to evacuate, however.

“I think we’ll just hang, you know — tough it out,” said Apollo Beach resident Martin Oakes. “We got shutters up. The house is all ready. So this is sort of the last piece of the puzzle.”

Another local resident, Ralph Douglas of Ruskin, said one reason for staying was concern about running out of gas or being blocked by debris on the way back.

The state has been working to clear wreckage from Hurricane Helene to keep debris from flying through the air and injuring anyone. DeSantis said more than 300 dump trucks have removed 1,200 loads and are working around the clock.

Milton had been downgraded to a Category 4 Tuesday morning, but NHC forecasters warned it remained “an extremely serious threat to Florida,” reported The Associated Press, and late Tuesday afternoon the NHC warned that the storm had again gained strength.

Forecasters said storm surge in Tampa Bay could reach up to 15 feet. DeSantis said over 30 shelters run by counties were open for evacuees.

As Hurricane Milton crosses central Florida, the monster storm is expected to produce up to 18 inches of rainfall, the NHC said.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House, warned Floridians that evacuating was a “matter of life and death,” as BBC News reported. “Evacuate now, now, now,” he told residents, promising that the U.S. government would help Florida “before, during and after” the hurricane.

Deanne Criswell, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, said people needed to take the advice of their local officials and “get out of harm’s way,” reported The Associated Press.

“People don’t need to move far. They just need to move inland.”

Jaime Hernandez, Hollywood, Florida’s emergency management director, said people should make a plan, stay informed and have an emergency kit on hand.

Food, water and other supplies should also be bought in advance, with a gallon of water per person per day for a week, Hernandez said.

“It is worth emphasizing that this is a very serious situation and residents in Florida should closely follow orders from their local emergency management officials. Evacuations and other preparations should be completed today. Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the NHC cautioned on Tuesday.