The Category 5 Hurricane Milton was expected to grow larger on Tuesday as it threatened Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on its way to Florida, where more than a million people were ordered to evacuate from its path. #HurricaneMiltonFlorida
The densely populated west coast of Florida, still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago, braced for landfall on Wednesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center projected the storm would likely hit near the Tampa Bay area. This region is home to over 3 million people. Some evacuees rushed to dispose of debris left by Helene as they left town.
With maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour, Milton was categorized as the strongest level storm. This classification follows the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
Wind speeds could decrease to 145 mph (233 kph) by the time it approaches Florida, according to the hurricane center.
That would still be a Category 4 storm, meaning catastrophic damage will occur, including power outages expected to last days.
Fed by warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Milton Florida intensified rapidly. It became the third-fastest storm on record. According to the Hurricane Center, it surged from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in under 24 hours.
Its path from west to east was also unusual, as Gulf hurricanes typically form in the Caribbean Sea and make landfall after traveling west and turning north. #HurricaneMiltonFlorida
“It is exceedingly rare for a hurricane to form in the western Gulf, track eastward, and make landfall on the western coast of Florida,” said Jonathan Lin, an atmospheric scientist at Cornell University. “This has big implications since the track of the storm plays a role in determining where the storm surge will be the largest.”
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