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Florida’s fears grow as Milton explodes to Category 5

Writer's picture: The San Juan Daily StarThe San Juan Daily Star


Floodwaters remain on Citrus Avenue after Hurricane Helene passed through in Crystal River, Fla., Sept. 27, 2024. Evacuations and storm preparations began on Sunday, Oct. 6, as forecasters projected that Hurricane Milton would slam into Florida’s west coast on Wednesday as a major hurricane packing life-threatening winds and storm surge. (Scott Mcintyre/The New York Times)

By Judson Jones


Hurricane Milton’s wind speeds reached 175 mph on Monday afternoon, just 48 hours after it became a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials issued urgent warnings ahead of the storm, which is expected to batter Florida’s west coast with heavy rain and powerful winds when coming ashore Wednesday.


Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said the storm had strengthened at an explosive pace. It took just seven hours Monday morning to intensify from Category 1 strength into a Category 5, the most powerful hurricane classification, making it one of the fastest hurricanes on record to do so.


Here’s what you need to know:


— Where it’s going: Milton’s exact path was still taking shape at midday, but forecasters said they had growing confidence that a powerful hurricane would affect Florida’s west coast, bringing what they described as “life-threatening” hazards.


— Size and strength: Milton’s wind speeds and category could fluctuate as it moves east over the Gulf, and it may not make landfall as a Category 5. But that could mean that the storm will expand in size before landfall, spreading its dangerous effects over a much larger area.


— Florida prepares: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said that uncertainty over the storm’s path would lead to widespread evacuations. He urged residents to leave vulnerable areas, including parts of the densely populated Tampa Bay region. Highways seemed certain to snarl as people in low-lying areas flee to higher ground. That area, which is highly vulnerable to storm surge, hasn’t had a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.


— Slow summer, busy fall: Forecasters had predicted a hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season, but an extended lull kept things quiet for much of the summer. In the past two weeks, though, six named storms have formed, beginning with Helene. It made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region last month and brought devastating rains to the Appalachian region.

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