Florida was preparing for its biggest evacuation since 2017 as Hurricane Milton strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico, following devastating Hurricane Helene, according to Reuters.
Milton, which intensified from a tropical storm to a hurricane on Sunday, was expected to make landfall on Wednesday, according to the US National Hurricane Centre. It is likely to make landfall near the densely populated Tampa Bay area.
The new hurricane was expected to affect areas hit by Helene on September 26. Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida’s emergency management division, urged people to prepare for the “largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma.”
I highly encourage you to evacuate.
As of 7:00 p.m. EDT Sunday (00:00 GMT Monday), Milton was about 780 miles (1,255 kilometres) west-southwest of Tampa. It had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) and was moving east towards Florida at 7 mph (11 kph).
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned of a potentially stronger storm surge and more power outages in Milton compared to Helene.
There are some areas with a lot of debris that is there, so if you get hit with a major hurricane, what’s going to happen to that debris? It’s going to increase the damage dramatically. This is all hands on deck to get that debris where it needs to be.
The county had already ordered the evacuation of six hospitals, 25 nursing homes and 44 assisted living facilities with a total of 6,600 patients, Cathie Perkins, director of the county’s emergency management, stated.
North Carolina, Florida and much of the South are still recovering from the widespread devastation caused by Helene. The hurricane killed more than 200 people in six states and was the deadliest storm to hit the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 1,400 people in 2005.
US President Joe Biden declared on Sunday that he ordered 500 more active-duty troops to move to western North Carolina and help in the Helene response and recovery efforts. They join a massive state and local recovery effort, as well as 7,000 federal troops and 6,100 National Guard members. The Biden administration also approved $137 million in federal aid.
