Florida prepares to welcome Hurricane ‘Milton’: “If you stay, you’re going to die” international

“It dropped by 50 millibars in 10 hours.” That phrase means nothing to most humans. When John Morales, chief meteorologist of the NBC station in Florida, said this, he could not help but have tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry. “It’s terrible,” he composed himself. “This is an incredible, incredible, incredible storm,” he said, referring to milton, The cyclone is expected to hit the west coast of Florida on Wednesday night. Residents, state officials and the federal government are preparing for the storm’s arrival. According to United States President Joe Biden, it could be “one of the worst hurricanes in 100 years” to hit Florida. Local officials have an even stronger message for people who live in areas under evacuation orders: “If you stay, you will die.”

The Southeastern United States is still recovering from the disaster of Helen, More than 220 people have died due to its destruction in six states. That storm hit Florida a few weeks earlier, but its most devastating impact was inland, in Georgia and the Carolinas.

The new storm, moving through the Gulf of Mexico, will hit the peninsula from coast to coast, according to the trajectory predicted by the National Hurricane Center. Its impact will mainly be on the central region of Florida. According to forecasts, officials closed the Tampa airport on Tuesday in the part where the storm is expected to make landfall, hitting the Orlando area as a whole before moving east towards the Atlantic.

President Biden has decided to postpone his scheduled trip to Germany and Angola this week to monitor hurricane preparedness and response MiltonIn addition to the ongoing assistance to cope with the devastation caused by Helen, As announced by White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

“A matter of life or death”

After meeting with emergency teams, Biden stressed that this could be one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States “in a century.” “You never know,” he admitted. “God willing that’s not the case, but that’s the way it seems right now,” he said, warning that following evacuation orders from the most at-risk areas was “a matter of life or death.” “I urge everyone, everyone who is in the path of the storm right now Milton Listen to local officials and follow safety instructions,” he said.

Evacuation orders have been issued in nine Florida counties. Jane Castor, the mayor of Tampa, a city of 400,000, was emphatic on the matter: “I can say without any dramatization, that if you decide to live in one of those evacuation zones, you are going to die,” he said. Announced in an interview with CNN. Bruce Rector, mayor of Clearwater, a city of 117,000 people, signed the message: “Human life is our priority right now, so, as my friend Mayor Castor said, if you decide to stay in the evacuation zone, you risk dying.” “This is probably the biggest storm we’ve had in a century.” People living on the upper floors of the buildings are also not safe.

The Tampa Bay area, which is highly vulnerable to storm surge, has not been directly affected by a major hurricane in more than a century. It was released at the last minute in 2022 Ian, Which moved south and killed about 150 people in Florida. The densely populated area is once again in the storm’s predicted path.

As the storm passed through the Gulf of Mexico north of Yucatan Milton It reached Category 5, the maximum on the Saffir–Simpson scale, which classifies cyclones based on their sustained wind speeds. Its intensity has since decreased by one degree, but it is approaching Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour and high gusts. Wind speed is one of the variables of a hurricane’s destructive potential, but its size, the intensity of its rainfall and the speed of its movement are also decisive, especially in terms of its ability to cause floods.

“hope so Milton It is increasing in size as it approaches the west coast of Florida on Wednesday and remains an extremely dangerous hurricane. A large area of ​​destructive storm surge will hit parts of Florida’s west coast. “This is an extremely life-threatening situation and residents of these areas should follow the advice of local officials and evacuate immediately if directed to do so,” the National Hurricane Center (CNH) warned on Tuesday, warning that the devastating There were also warnings of hurricane-force winds. Expected to occur along parts of Florida’s west coast.

Many storms lose strength and become typhoons when they hit land, but CNH predicted on Tuesday Milton It remains a hurricane as it passes the Florida peninsula. Officials warned that preparations to protect life and property in alert areas should be completed by Tuesday night.

“Let’s prepare for the worst and pray that we become vulnerable,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. “But we should be prepared for a very significant impact on the west coast of Florida.”