Category 5 Hurricane Milton Boast 180 MPH Winds, Set to Hit Florida as Category 3
The National Hurricane Center’s forecasted track of Hurricane Milton as of 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 7, 2024. (National Hurricane Center/National Weather Service).
By T.J. Muscaro
TAMPA—Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “All folks on the west coast of the Florida peninsula should be prepared for potential major impacts” from Hurricane Milton as evacuations and emergency preparations get underway.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty in terms of what precise track it will take, but there’s not much uncertainty that there is going to bring significant impacts, major impacts for many, many communities throughout the state of Florida,” he said during a 3:30 p.m. press briefing at the state’s emergency operations center on Oct. 7.
Hurricane Milton has continued to intensify, with sustained winds now reaching 180 mph as it passes near the Yucatan Peninsula.
The National Hurricane Center stated, “Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida and residents are urged to follow the orders of local officials.”
The forecast advisory now puts the center of the storm in Old Tampa Bay by 2 a.m. Oct. 10 with sustained winds of 125 mph. The storm surge forecast for Tampa Bay has increased to 10-15 feet.
DeSantis said that his team is prepared for the worst possible scenarios–including the first direct impact in Tampa Bay since 1921.
“Since I’ve been governor, you game plan different types of scenarios that are going to impact the state and major hurricane into Tampa Bay,” he said. “Given how vulnerable it is to storm surge, how low lying it is, is one of the most significant events that we can respond to.”
Evacuations are already underway. DeSantis said that I-75 was seeing a 90 percent increase of traffic. Florida Department of Transportation announced that it was opening the interstate shoulders to handle the congestion.
24/7 operations to clear remaining debris from Hurricane Helene are also still ongoing.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 35 counties on Florida’s west coast and later extended that declaration to 51 counties across the peninsula.
President Joe Biden announced on Oct. 7 that he approved the emergency declaration and announced federal assistance for work beginning Oct. 5.
That assistance includes 75 percent federal funding emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance (Category B) for 37 counties, including the Tampa Bay counties of Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota.
Emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance were also approved for 14 additional counties, including Taylor, Madison, and Alachua counties.