What to know about Hurricane Milton

AP:

Hurricane Milton churned through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Tuesday as an “extremely dangerous” storm that could wallop one of the state’s major population centres just two weeks after deadly Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.

The system is threatening the Tampa Bay area, which is home to more than 3.3 million people and has managed to evade a direct hit from a major hurricane for more than 100 years. Milton is also menacing other stretches of Florida’s west coast that were battered when Helene came ashore on September 26.

Traffic was thick Tuesday heading north out of Tampa on Interstate 75 as people fled the area ahead of Milton. As they evacuated, crews along the coast hurried to clear Helene’s debris so that Milton doesn’t turn it into dangerous projectiles.

Milton strengthened to a Category 5 storm on Monday before weakening Tuesday to a Category 4. National Hurricane Center forecasters warned that the storm would likely remain a major hurricane and could even expand as it approaches Florida. By Tuesday afternoon, it was picking up strength again.

Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida’s central Gulf coast late Wednesday. Forecasters said Tuesday that although it will likely fluctuate in intensity, Milton will remain “an extremely dangerous hurricane “ through landfall.

“We must be prepared for a major, major impact to the west coast of Florida,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Milton was about 520 miles (835 kilometres) southwest of Tampa with sustained winds of 155 mph (250 kph).

President Joe Biden, who postponed an overseas trip so he could remain at the White House to monitor Milton, warned that it “could be one of the worst storms in 100 years to hit Florida.”

With the storm expected to remain fairly strong as it crosses Florida, hurricane warnings were extended early Tuesday to parts of the state’s east coast.

Milton is just the latest system in a storm season that scientists say is the weirdest they’ve ever seen.

Forecasters were predicting a busy Atlantic hurricane season before it started, and it began when Beryl became the earliest storm on record to reach Category 5 status. But from August 20 – the traditional start of peak hurricane season – to September 23 it was record quiet, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

Then, five hurricanes popped up between September 26 and October 6, more than double the old record of two. On Sunday and Monday, there were three hurricanes in October at the same time, which had never happened before, Klotzbach said. In just 46.5 hours, Hurricane Milton went from forming as a tropical storm with 40 mph winds to a top-of-the-charts Category 5 hurricane.

With hurricanes disrupting the lives of millions in the US, some might wonder if it’s possible to control extreme weather events. But scientists say hurricanes are far too powerful for that, and climate change is providing more fuel than ever for storms like Helene and Milton.