Hurricane Milton’s Impact Could Be Devastating! 

United States: Hurricane Milton was downgraded from a very dangerous Category 5 storm to a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it headed toward Florida’s Gulf Coast. This area is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which hit hard just over a week ago. The National Hurricane Center warned that Milton will still be very dangerous when it makes landfall in Florida. 

As reported by yahoo news, 51 counties in Florida are now under a state of emergency, millions of people might have to evacuate as Milton intensifies along its path to the Tampa Bay region where it is predicted to come ashore Wednesday evening. 

During a press conference on Tuesday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that even though storm winds have decreased, Milton is still a major hurricane and can intensify before entering the mainland. 

“Even if it does weaken, you’re still looking at a major hurricane,” remarked DeSantis. ‘It is going to have really, really significant impacts,’ said Dr. 

If it stays on the current course, Milton might be the most devastating storm in the Tampa area in more than a century. 

The hurricane is ranked among only forty hurricanes that have developed into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic and only seven Category 1 hurricanes that underwent transformation into a Category 5 hurricane in 24 hours. 

 In an interview with all the reporters on Monday afternoon, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Milton was the third biggest storm to form in terms of rapid growth in the Atlantic basin in the history of the world over the last 165 years, behind Hurricane Wilma of 2005, and Hurricane Felix of 2007. 

The NHC announced Tuesday morning that a large area of destructive storm surge would be expected along parts of Florida’s west coast. 

“This is an extremely life-threatening situation and residents in those areas should follow advice given by local officials and evacuate immediately if told to do so,” the hurricane center said. 

Some areas in the Florida Peninsula and the Florida Keys will be between 5 to 10 inches with the isolated amounts of up to 15 inches through Wednesday night. Such rainfall contains “the possibility of significant flash, urban and areal flooding, and with potential moderate to major river flooding,” meteorologists explained. 

Meanwhile, portions of the northern Yucatan Peninsula can expect 2 to 4 inches of rainfall. 

Evacuation Orders 

Florida Division of the Emergency Management had ordered mandatory evacuations for the people living in the evacuation zones in the Florida Counties. 

DeSantis urged residents to follow evacuation orders but stressed they do not have to travel far to be safe.  

You don’t have to evacuate hundreds of the miles, “DeSantis said at a press conference Monday and if you’re in the areas that are susceptible to storm the surge, you go to the areas that are not susceptible to that.