Hurricane Milton The storm raced across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday en route to Florida’s west coast, where mass evacuations clogged highways as people braced for a potentially historic storm. Some communities, such as those in and around Tampa Bay, were still suffering the effects Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

“While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is expected to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane as it makes landfall in Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay described Milton as “a historic storm for Florida’s west coast” that could prove to be the worst storm to hit Tampa Bay in more than 100 years.

Florida residents in the hurricane’s potential path lined properties with sandbags, boarded up doors and windows and moved their boats ahead of the storm’s arrival. Gov. Ron DeSantis issued emergency orders over the weekend that now cover 51 counties whose residents he said should be affected prepare In the event of a power outage, stock up on a week’s worth of food and water and be prepared to leave your home if necessary.

Tracking Hurricane Milton

Milton traveled north of the Yucatán Peninsula on Tuesday, where the Mexican government issued hurricane warnings as forecasters expected damaging winds and a life-threatening storm surge to hit parts of the coast. The storm, a strong Category 4 hurricane, had weakened somewhat as its maximum sustained winds swirled above 180 mph Monday during a rapid intensification period that the National Hurricane Center described as “explosive” and “remarkable.”

This peak strength rivaled the most devastating hurricanes in the Atlantic in recorded history and happened at breakneck speed. Milton was a tropical storm for only 24 hours before strengthening into a Category 5 hurricane. the highest rank on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which rates storms based on their sustained wind speed.

Milton fell back to Category 4 overnight. On Tuesday afternoon, the storm hit the Yucatán Peninsula with maximum wind speeds of around 250 km/h – just below the Category 5 threshold. Forecasters expected Milton to maintain its status as a major hurricane as it moved westward along the Florida coast.

“It must be emphasized that this is a very serious situation,” the hurricane center said Tuesday morning. “Milton has the potential to be one of the most devastating hurricanes ever for West Central Florida.”

Tampa Bay prepares to land

The latest forecasts indicate that Milton will make landfall late Wednesday or very early Thursday either in or near the Tampa Bay area, likely as a powerful Category 3 hurricane. Although forecasts for Milton’s landfall location and timing have been in place since Monday, when While the storm experienced rapid changes and fluctuated somewhat, predictions regarding the intensity of the hurricane when it makes landfall have remained fairly stable. According to the hurricane center, wind speeds in Milton are expected to drop to around 125 mph at this time. This could have devastating consequences for affected places.

Where exactly the hurricane is centered when Milton makes landfall could determine the extent of destruction it causes in the Tampa Bay area, mostly related to storm surge. wrote CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan.

“The forecast path with Milton has the west coast of Florida in its sights, but the location of the storm’s center, or ‘eye,’ may determine how catastrophic the impact is on the Tampa Bay area,” Nolan said. “The eastern side of the eye is considered the ‘dirty side’ of the storm, where winds tend to be strongest. If the predicted direction shifts north, the dirty side will then fall over Tampa Bay.”

Nolan said this increases the risk of storm surge in the area. Forecasters have warned that Milton’s arrival could unleash a potentially life-threatening storm surge on Florida’s Gulf Coast, which is particularly vulnerable to severe flooding due to its geographyand that’s especially true in Tampa Bay. Several people died in Tampa from the storm surge caused by Hurricane Helene, and that storm didn’t even directly hit the city.

Storm surge forecast

Hurricane and storm surge warnings were expanded Tuesday to cover much of Florida’s east coast, where storm surges of up to 4 feet above the ground could potentially occur as Milton moves inland across the state after making landfall on its path toward the Atlantic Ocean. Coastal locations in Georgia and South Carolina could also experience storm surges of several feet.

The threat of storm surges is a major concern for Florida’s west coast. In addition to hurricane warnings in effect from Bonita Beach north to the mouth of the Suwannee River, storm surge warnings were also in effect from Flamingo north to the same location, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay.

The hurricane center has warned that storm surge could reach 10 to 15 feet above ground level in the Tampa Bay area.

“The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and south of the landfall, where the high tide will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves,” the hurricane center said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Flood-related inundation depends on the relative timing of the tide and the tidal cycle and can vary greatly over short distances.”

Forecasts show heavy rainfall, up to 15 inches in certain areas, could lead to “significant flash flooding, urban and regional flooding, and moderate to major river flooding” in parts of the Florida Peninsula through Thursday.

Evacuation zones

Mass evacuations were underway Airports in Florida have canceled flightsand schools as far south as Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties announced closures ahead of Milton’s expected arrival. Thousands fled the Tampa Bay area and mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for parts of the surrounding region Monday and Tuesday.

“We’re now talking about the possibility of a direct hit,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said in a CNN interview Monday, urging people to heed storm warnings and follow evacuation protocols. Castor noted that while the storm surge caused by Helene was destructive, it was significantly less than the forecast storm surge for a large section of Florida’s west coast, including Tampa and Milton.

“Helene was a wake-up call. This is catastrophic in the truest sense of the word. And I can say without any dramatization: if you choose to stay in one of these evacuation areas, you will die,” Castor said.

President Biden the mayor repeated Tuesday morning as the White House announced he was postponing a trip to Germany and Angola to oversee the response to Hurricane Milton.

“I have urged everyone currently in the vicinity of Hurricane Milton to listen to local authorities and follow safety instructions,” Mr. Biden said. “…If you have an evacuation order, you should evacuate now – you should have evacuated already. It’s a matter of life and death.”

Mr. Biden said he had pre-approved emergency declarations in Florida and sent Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to the state on Monday. The president also said he had spoken to all the political leaders in the region who were expected to feel Milton’s impact and told them: “Anything they ask for, they can get.”