TAMPA, Fla. – Hurricane Milton regained its Category 5 status on Tuesday as it surged across the Gulf of Mexico, heading for the Florida Peninsula. Millions rushed to finalize storm preparations and evacuate vulnerable areas in anticipation of its impact.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that Milton’s storm surge posed an “extremely life-threatening situation” for Florida’s western coast, with damaging winds and heavy rainfall expected to affect areas far beyond the forecast cone. Hurricane warnings blanketed the state, with maps showing red and orange alerts across Florida.
Milton experienced a dramatic intensification on Monday, reaching sustained winds of 180 mph. By Tuesday morning, its wind speeds had dropped but rebounded to 160 mph by the evening. While the storm is projected to weaken before landfall on Wednesday night, John Cangialosi, an NHC specialist, cautioned that “Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.” The NHC forecasted landfall between Tarpon Springs and Cape Coral.
“It’s important to note that even 24 hours before landfall, pinpointing the exact location remains difficult,” Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist at the NHC, emphasized in a forecast discussion Tuesday night. The center’s average margin of error within 24 hours is 48 miles. Milton is expected to track northeast across Florida, exiting the state between Daytona Beach and Stuart by Thursday morning.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis urged residents in Milton’s path to act quickly, stating that “time is running out” before landfall, which is likely to occur as a Category 3 storm. The National Weather Service in Tampa warned that if Milton stays on its current trajectory, it could be “the most powerful hurricane to strike Tampa Bay in over a century.” More than 1 million residents were under evacuation orders across at least 16 counties, with more expected to follow as Milton approaches, affecting a state still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which hit less than two weeks ago. Nearly 20 million of Florida’s 22 million residents were under either hurricane or tropical storm warnings.
In St. Petersburg, Julie Bost, who endured $65,000 in damage from last year’s Hurricane Idalia, decided to evacuate. Bost, 32, a new mom when Idalia flooded her home, said, “I couldn’t face another flood. I told my husband I couldn’t handle that again emotionally.”
The storm-battered and weary residents brace for yet another landfall.
