Florida is preparing for its largest evacuation since 2017 as Hurricane Milton intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico on its path toward the US state's western coast, coming on the heels of the devastating Hurricane Helene.
Milton, which strengthened from a tropical storm to hurricane on Sunday, was projected to make landfall on Wednesday morning, most likely hitting near the heavily populated Tampa Bay area, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said.
The new hurricane has the potential to affect areas already hit hard by Helene, which made landfall further north on the coast on September 26.
4pm CDT Oct 6th Key Messages for — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) #Hurricane #Milton:Forecast to be a major hurricane when it reaches W coast of #Florida Peninsula this week. Too soon to specify magnitude & locations of greatest impacts, but risk of life-threatening storm surge & damaging winds increasing.… pic.twitter.com/clGNT0ff6YOctober 6, 2024
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," Guthrie told Floridians in a press conference.
Milton was located about 1300km west-southwest of Tampa as of Sunday, packing maximum sustained winds of 140km/h, the National Hurricane Center said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned of a potentially higher storm surge and more power outages from Milton compared to Helene, and said destruction from Helene could be compounded.
"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," DeSantis said. "This is all hands on deck to get that debris where it needs to be."
Mexico issued a hurricane watch for the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.