Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida and is forecast to make landfall late Wednesday on the state's west coast, threatening life and property with towering storm surges, devastating winds and catastrophic flooding.
The Category 3 storm was 60 miles west-southwest of Sarasota moving northeast at 17 mph at 5 p.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center said. Maximum sustained winds were 120 mph. The center of Milton is expected to make landfall near Tampa or south of Tampa tonight, according to the hurricane center, which warns the storm would still be a major hurricane when it touches land.
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Millions were ordered or urged to evacuate and thousands of fleeing cars clogged Florida's highways ahead of the storm, but by Wednesday afternoon the National Weather Service said that time had run out.
"It’s time to shelter-in-place from #Milton. Tropical-storm force winds, flooding rains, and tornadoes are spreading inland across FL. Unless a life-threatening situation arises, stay indoors and follow updates," the NWS posted on X.
Much of the area was seeing tornadoes by the afternoon — in fact, Florida broke its record for the most tornado warnings issued in a single day, NBC News reported. By 4:30 p.m., 111 warnings were generated by the National Weather Service, breaking the previous record set on Sept. 10, 2017, with 69 tornado warnings.
The Tampa Bay area was already experiencing dangerous flooding from Milton by late afternoon, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Up to 18 inches of rain is forecasted from Tampa to Orlando, with a high likelihood of significant inland flooding overnight.
Forecasters warn the immense and powerful storm could generate “life-threatening” storm surge of up to 15 feet in Tampa, a region that's particularly flood-prone. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor noted that would be deep enough to swallow an entire house.
“So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in,” Castor said.
Officials have warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, as first responders are not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.
Tampa International Airport halted flights Tuesday morning and nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it is in a mandatory evacuation zone and closed after the last flight left Tuesday. It said all flights were canceled Wednesday and Thursday. Orlando International Airport — the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked — ceased operations Wednesday morning.
More than 1,700 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Wednesday and 1,700 more were already canceled for Thursday, according to the flight tracking site Flight Aware.
With Milton targeting communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene, many residents who are hunkering down are concerned about the dangers posed by the piles of debris left in Helene's wake. State and local governments scrambled ahead of the storm to clear as much debris as possible to prevent the loose wreckage from becoming flying projectiles. Still, piles of soggy furniture, appliances and other trash remained.
"And that's going into everywhere, and going to be damaging homes more, knocking out windows, taking out cars, and I don't know who to call," Marie Deering, a resident in Apollo Beach, just 17 miles south of Tampa, told NBC News.
In St. Petersburg, Ariel Dalmau rode out Hurricane Helene but was evacuating for Milton. Dalmau told NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa that he doesn’t want to be here to see what damage the debris does from not being picked up.
“All this garbage out here [is] going to be like a weapon for this hurricane,” Dalmau said.
The storm landed on the Mexican Caribbean coast on Tuesday, bringing strong winds that knocked down trees and disrupted power lines across Quintana Roo.
Mexican officials said so far no fatalities have been reported, only minor damages such as waterlogged roads, fallen trees, and power outages.
One problem for Florida's western coastline is the region's topography. The state's coastline along the Gulf of Mexico isn’t very deep, and it features a gentle underwater slope, allowing Milton to more easily push water up the continental shelf, Cody Fritz, the Storm Surge Unit Team Lead at the National Hurricane Center told NBC News.
President Joe Biden, who postponed an overseas trip so he could remain at the White House to monitor Milton, spoke from Washington Wednesday afternoon, criticizing misinformation circulating about the federal government's disaster response.
Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were mobilized to help in one of the largest mobilizations of federal personnel in history, The Associated Press reported.
“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said during a news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time."
In the Tampa Bay area's Gulfport, Christian Burke and his mother stayed put in their three-story concrete home overlooking the bay. Burke said his father designed this home with a Category 5 in mind — and now they’re going to test it.
As a passing police vehicle blared encouragement to evacuate, Burke acknowledged staying isn’t a good idea but said he’s “not laughing at this storm one bit” — he just believes the house his father built will withstand it.
Some 1,700 people hunkered down at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, including Trokon Nagbe and his husband, Morris Kulp. They slept on the floor because they didn't bring their own cots.
"It’s not the Hilton or the Marriott,” Kulp said, “but it sure is appreciated.”
