Mandatory evacuation orders already have been issued for hundreds of thousands of Florida residents on the Gulf Coast.
Federal forecasters say that Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 storm on Oct. 7 and is predicted to hit the Tampa, Florida, area by the evening of Oct. 9, with officials in western Florida issuing mandatory evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of people.
As of Tuesday
morning, the storm weakened to a strong Category 4, with 155 mph winds, officials say.
The agency warned on social media that if Milton stays on its current trajectory, “it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years.” In 1921, an unnamed hurricane caused significant damage.
“A storm surge of up to 11 feet damaged and destroyed a significant amount of the structures along coastal locations from Pasco county south through southwest Florida,” the weather service says of the 1921 storm on its
website.
In that system, winds were estimated to be 120 miles per hour near the Tarpon Springs landfall point, the agency says, noting that “numerous power poles and trees were downed from the winds, roofs were badly damaged, and windows were blown out of structures.”
A Category 5 hurricane means that a storm has winds greater than 157 mph and is likely to cause complete roof failure on many homes and industrial buildings,
according to the hurricane center.
When and Where
The storm is still expected to make landfall somewhere near Tampa on Wednesday evening as a major hurricane, meaning a Category 3 storm or greater, recent NHC modeling
shows. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings are still in effect for much of Florida’s Gulf Coast as well as Florida’s eastern coast after Milton passes through the state, emerging in the Atlantic Ocean.
Forecasters warned of a possible 8- to 12-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay. That’s the highest ever predicted for the location and nearly double the levels reached two weeks ago during Helene, hurricane center spokesperson Maria Torres said.
The storm could also bring widespread flooding. Five to 10 inches of rain was forecast for mainland Florida and the Keys, with as much as 15 inches expected in some places.
Tampa Mayor Issues Warning
“There’s never been one like this,” Mayor Jane Castor told CNN on Monday, adding that people who choose to “ride out” Milton will face a life-threatening situation.She then warned: “If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die,” adding, “Anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this.”
FEMA Moving Staff
And Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters that her agency is moving staff and supplies into place in advance of Milton, pleading with residents to heed evacuation orders.“This is an extremely dangerous hurricane,” Criswell said Tuesday morning. “I need people to listen to their local officials to get out of harm’s way… people don’t need to move far. They just need to move inland.”
Evacuations Ordered
Although Tampa hasn’t been hit directly by a hurricane in more than a century, other parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast are recovering from such storms in the past two years. The Fort Myers area in southwest Florida is still rebuilding from Hurricane Ian, which caused $112 billion in damage in 2022. Three hurricanes, including Helene, have thrashed Florida’s Big Bend region in 13 months.Mandatory evacuation orders have been
issued in multiple counties so far, including multiple
zones in Clay, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Volusia counties.
The Florida city of Anna Maria, an island municipality in Manatee County to the south of Tampa, said it would
start mandatory evacuations at mid-day on Oct. 7.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
