Hurricane Milton is headed straight for the densely populated Tampa Bay, forcing inhabitants of Florida to either complete their emergency preparations or simply evacuate.
At this moment, Milton is a category five storm with winds as strong as 165 mph (270 km/h). On Wednesday night, less than two weeks after the state was devastated by Hurricane Helene, it is predicted to strike with maximum force.
As Florida embarks on its biggest evacuation operation in years, President Joe Biden issued a warning to residents on Tuesday, telling them it was a “matter of life and death” to evacuate their homes.
Wednesday was the last day for Floridians to evacuate or seek shelter in anticipation of Category 5 Hurricane Milton, which could be among the most damaging storms to ever hit Florida’s Gulf Coast.
More than a million people in coastal areas were placed under evacuation orders, and as they fled for higher ground, traffic jams formed and gas stations ran out of fuel, further upsetting the area that was just recently beginning to recover from Hurricane Helene’s devastating effects.
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Over 3 million people live in the Tampa Bay metropolitan region, which was set to be hit by the storm; however, forecasters warned that the storm’s route might change before it lands late on Wednesday night or early on Thursday morning.
Milton was predicted to continue to strengthen into a hurricane as it moved across the Florida peninsula, providing a risk of storm surge along the state’s Atlantic coast.
The direct path of Milton accounts for about 2.8% of the US GDP, according to Oxford Economics’ principal U.S. economist Ryan Sweet. As they prepared for delays, a number of businesses, including airlines, energy companies, and a theme park called Universal Studios, started to suspend operations in Florida.
Milton developed from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in less than a day, making it the third-fastest Atlantic storm on record to intensify.
