Hurricane Milton is now a Category 5 as people living on Florida’s west coast brace for its impending arrival.
Officials have posted hurricane and storm surge watches for the state’s western Gulf Coast, and the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said it will be a “historic storm” for the area, the Weather Channel reported on Monday.
The outlet continued:
If you are in an area prone to storm surge, follow the advice of local officials and evacuate if ordered to do so. This is a serious situation with the National Hurricane Center forecasting a storm surge as much as 8 to 12 feet above ground level along the western Florida Gulf Coast, including the Tampa Bay area, if the peak surge arrives at high tide.
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The hurricane is churning over the western Gulf of Mexico 720 miles southwest of Tampa. It’s a strong Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds and is tracking east-southeast at 9 mph.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has expanded an emergency declaration for more than 50 of Florida’s 67 counties, NPR reported on Monday.
In a social media post, the National Hurricane Center shared “Key Messages” regarding the hurricane, noting that heavy rainfall will hit Florida on Monday prior to the hurricane’s arrival, with more on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“This rainfall will bring the risk of considerable flash, urban, and areal flooding, along with the potential for moderate to major river flooding,” the agency said:
In preparation for the storm’s landfall, DeSantis said on Monday, “We are deploying truckloads of food and water, ambulances, Starlinks, and more than 2,000 feet of flood protection systems to protect critical infrastructure in Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area.”
“We are also amassing an additional 1.5 million gallons of fuel reserves and staging them to be utilized as needed,” the governor added in his social media post:
“Local officials and their vendors must continue clearing debris from Hurricane Helene, before Hurricane Milton makes landfall,” DeSantis continued.
“As per my Executive Order on Saturday, local landfill and dump sites must remain open 24/7 to safely dispose of debris from Hurricane Helene. We have no time for bureaucracy and red tape,” he concluded.
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