HURRICANE MILTON IS currently making its way towards the south east of the United States and is set to be the fifth-strongest storm to ever hit the country.
Residents in Florida’s gulf coast are bracing for the impact of the storm as near-record winds are expected to hit the region which is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene that cause devastation just 12 days ago.
According to the National Hurricane Centre in the US, the storm’s path is expected to make its way over the Gulf of Mexico and hit the Floridian coastline in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The hurricane, which is currently near the coast of the Yucatan province in south east Mexico, is expected to have extremely strong winds, a life-threatening storm surge -meaning it will likely cause tidal waves – and will grow as it approaches the US.
Cities such as Tampa Bay and Key West, along the west coast and in the middle of Florida, are expected to be at the greatest risk of flooding and will experience the strongest winds.
The winds, which are estimated to reach over 250 km/h in speed, can and most likely will destroy small and medium sized buildings, such as barns and sheds, or larger, less-sturdy buildings such as warehouses.
Many in Florida have already begun boarding up their properties in anticipation for the impacts of the storm. The earliest start to the hurricane is anticipated tomorrow.
About 240 kilometres south of Tampa, Fort Myers Beach was nearly a ghost town by yesterday afternoon as an evacuation order took effect.
Many residents along the western coast of Florida have been ordered to leave the area while others prepare the banks with sandbags.
Some areas north of Tampa Bay in Florida are expected to receive up to 16 inches of rain in the first day of the strom’s arrival. That is roughly half the rainfall that areas on the east coast of Ireland receive over the course of one year.
Other areas in the south of the State, such as Miami, will largely be unaffected by rain but may still experience potentially deadly and destructive winds and some localised flooding.
The entire middle region of Florida, including cities such as Tampa Bay, Orlando and surrounding towns, will almost certainly experience very destructive flooding as a result of the dangerous storm surges out at sea.
Other cities, such as Jacksonville and Miami, are expected to experience moderate to slight flooding.
Fox Orlando’s meteorologist Noah Bergren said on X, formerly Twitter: “This is nothing short of astronomical.
“I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe you the storm’s small eye and intensity.”
He added: “This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.”
The National Hurricane Centre’s website says Hurricane Milton is “extremely powerful”.
“Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida and residents are urged to follow the orders of local officials,” it adds.
US President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and US representative Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were mobilised to help in one of the largest mobilisations of federal personnel in history.
“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa mayor Jane Castor told a news conference yesterday. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.”
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