United States: As per the recent reports, the Gulf of Mexico storm rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane Monday on a track toward Florida, stacking fears of a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay, which prompted evacuation orders and boosted the need for cleanup from Hurricane Helene, which drowned much of the same shoreline less than two weeks ago.
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Parts of Mexico’s Yucatan state were under hurricane warning, and a hurricane warning was also issued for much of Florida’s west coast under a hurricane and storm surge watch.
That’s when Lake Okeechobee, which frequently floods during fierce storms, was also under a hurricane watch, AP News reported.
According to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor at a news conference, “This is the real deal here with Milton,” “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.”
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Milton quickly intensified Monday and was forecast to become a large hurricane over the eastern Gulf.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (257 kph).
As per the experts, its center could come ashore in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday or Wednesday night before moving into central Florida, where it could crawl north into the Atlantic Ocean.
It would spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people as it tracked from Florida across the Appalachians.
The storm surge from a potentially 8 to 12-foot high storm could swamp Tampa Bay, and flash and river flooding were predicted from 5 to 10 inches of rain on mainland Florida and the Keys and up to 15 inches in spots.
Helene and its devastating surge are still a memory in the Tampa Bay area. The worst damage was along a string of barrier islands from St. Petersburg to Clearwater, though 12 people died.
It was imperative that Helene’s messes be cleared before Milton hits, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday, so they do not become projectiles, AP News reported.
But during Sunday’s cleanup, more than 300 vehicles picked up debris, and they ran into trouble trying to drop it off at a locked landfill gate.
“We don’t have time for bureaucracy and red tape,” DeSantis added.