BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla. — Florida’s storm-battered Gulf Coast battled a Category 5 hurricane Monday as workers sprinted to pick up debris left behind by Helene two weeks ago and highways were clogged with people fleeing before the storm.
The center of Hurricane Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area, which hasn’t suffered a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century. Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before making landfall, although it could retain hurricane strength as it moves across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helen, which killed at least 230 people on its journey from Florida to the Carolinas.
“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said at a news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100%. »
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday it was imperative that Helene’s debris be cleared before Milton arrived so the pieces could not become projectiles. More than 300 vehicles collected debris on Sunday.
As evacuation orders were issued, forecasters warned of a possible storm surge of 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay. That’s the highest level ever forecast for the region and nearly double the levels reached two weeks ago in Helene, National Hurricane Center spokeswoman Maria Torres said.
The storm could also cause widespread flooding. Five to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain were forecast over mainland Florida and the Keys, with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) expected in some places.
The Tampa metropolitan area has more than 3.3 million residents.
“It’s a huge population. It’s very exposed, very untested, and it’s a losing proposition,” said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “I always thought Tampa would be the city I would worry about the most.”
Much of Florida’s west coast was under hurricane and storm surge warnings. A hurricane warning was also issued for parts of the Mexican state of Yucatan, which were expected to be swept sideways.
Milton rapidly intensified Monday over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. There were maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (285 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. The center of the storm was about 650 miles (1,085 kilometers) southwest of Tampa late in the afternoon, moving east-southeast at 10 mph (17 kph).
The Tampa Bay area is still bouncing back after Hélène and her powerful push. Twelve people died there, with the most severe damage occurring along a chain of barrier islands from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.
“There are going to be flying missiles”
Lifeguards in Pinellas County, on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay, removed beach chairs and other items that could blow away in strong winds. Elsewhere, stoves, chairs, refrigerators and kitchen tables waited in piles to be picked up.
Sarah Steslicki, who lives in Belleair Beach, said she was frustrated that more debris hadn’t been picked up sooner.
“They messed up and didn’t pick up the debris, and now they’re scrambling to get it back,” Steslicki said Monday. “If this one hits, it will be flying missiles. Things will float and fly through the air.
Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, ordered the evacuation of areas adjacent to Tampa Bay and all mobile and manufactured homes by Tuesday evening.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were being called upon to help in one of the largest mobilizations of federal personnel in history.
Many evacuate, but some hesitate
Milton’s approach was reminiscent of 2017’s Hurricane Irma, when about 7 million people were asked to evacuate Florida in an exodus that blocked highways and clogged gas stations. Some people who left have vowed never to evacuate again.
As of Monday morning, some gas stations in the Fort Myers and Tampa areas were already out of gas. Fuel has continued to arrive in Florida, and the state has stockpiled hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, with many more on the way, DeSantis said.
A steady stream of vehicles headed north toward the Florida Panhandle on Interstate 75, the main highway on the west side of the peninsula, as residents obeyed evacuation orders. Traffic clogged the highway’s southbound lanes for miles as other residents headed to the relative safety of Fort Lauderdale and Miami on the other side of the state.
Candice Briggs, with her husband, three young children and dog, planned to go to a hotel north of Jacksonville less than two weeks after Helen sent a foot and a half of water into her family’s home in the Tampa Bay community. of Seminole. The family had just settled into their temporary accommodation with an extended family member when they had to evacuate again before even finishing their post-Helen laundry.
“Most of the tears I cried were out of exhaustion or gratitude. Just that we are safe and we followed our instincts to evacuate,” Briggs said. “I am most grateful. But I am overwhelmed and exhausted.
Briggs worried about her storm-damaged home, where workers have already ripped out feet of soggy drywall, leaving exposed beams behind, she fears they will be even more vulnerable to the towering wall of water that forecasters say Milton could hit against the flood-prone stretch. from the Gulf Coast.
Even though Tanya Marunchak’s Belleair Beach home was flooded with more than 4 feet of water from Helene, she and her husband weren’t sure if they should evacuate. She wanted to leave, but her husband thought their three-story house was strong enough to withstand Milton.
“We lost all our cars, all our furniture. The first floor was completely destroyed,” Marunchak said. “This is the strangest weather situation that has ever existed.”
In Mexico, dozens of residents and tourists queued with their suitcases to catch an evacuation ferry off the island of Holbox, on the eastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, popular for its seascapes shallow. The low-lying, flood-prone island could be one of the closest points Hurricane Milton touches before heading toward Florida.
Marilú Macías, an occasional resident, accompanied by her daughters, was calm and smiling, but afraid of what Milton might do.
“We’re afraid something will happen to us,” she said. “We’re going somewhere safer.”
Why did Milton escalate so quickly?
Milton’s wind speeds increased by 92 mph (148 km/h) in 24 hours – a rate that trails only those of Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and Hurricane Felix in 2007. One reason for What Milton strengthened so quickly is its little “pin’s eye,” just like Wilma’s, said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University.
The storm will likely go through what’s called an “eyewall replacement cycle,” a natural process that forms a new eye and enlarges the storm but weakens wind speeds, Klotzbach said.
The Gulf of Mexico is unusually warm right now, so “the fuel is right there,” and Milton likely went through a very warm eddy that helped push it up further, said Kristen Corbosiero, a hurricane scientist at the University at Albany.
The last Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States was Michael in 2018.
Widespread cancellations in Florida and Mexico
As the storm approached, schools in Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is located, were being transformed into shelters. Airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando are expected to close. Walt Disney World said it is operating normally at this time.
In Mexico, the governor of the state of Yucatan, Joaquín Díaz, ordered the cancellation of all non-essential activities, except grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies and gas stations, starting Monday, and Mexican authorities organized buses to evacuate residents from the coastal town of Progreso.
It’s been two decades since so many storms hit Florida in such a short time. In 2004, five unprecedented storms hit Florida in six weeks, including three hurricanes that struck central Florida.
Schneider reported from Orlando. Associated Press writers Kate Payne in Tampa, Terry Spencer in Fort Myers Beach, Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Seth Borenstein in Washington, Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.
