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BREAKING: Largest Evacuation Since 2017 as Hurricane Milton Approaches

Milton in the Gulf of Mexico has just officially crossed over the threshold to be categorized as a hurricane.  Unwilling to take any chances considering Milton’s rapidly intensifying status, Florida is preparing for the largest evacuation since 2017.

According to the most recent Fox Weather report, the current landfall location is estimated near or south of the Tampa area as a strong Category 3 Hurricane.

Hurricane Milton is forecast to become a major hurricane before making landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast this week, and Florida emergency management officials are preparing for large-scale evacuations across the Sunshine State not seen in seven years.

The National Hurricane Center is forecasting Hurricane Milton to make landfall near or south of the Tampa metro as a Category 3 hurricane. The latest track shows Milton barreling over Florida’s highly populated Interstate 4 corridor and Interstate 75, which includes Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Sarasota.

Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie encouraged residents and visitors to heed the warning if told to leave.

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“I urge Floridians to finalize your storm preparations now; enact your plan. I highly encourage you to evacuate. We are preparing, and I have the State Emergency Response Team preparing, for the largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma,” Guthrie said on Sunday.

The consensus among experts and meteorologists is that Milton is likely to strengthen from now until the point of landfall on Wednesday, and all precautions should be taken.

In the city of Treasure Island, Florida officials are making debri removal crews available to ensure there is as little debri remaining when the storm hits to become projectiles that could cause harm to life and property.

Milton’s flooding will likely hit the most heavily populated areas of Florida, and could leave Tampa Bay under 10 feet of water, according to a Politico story that just dropped.

Milton is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before landfall, and the storm could bring coastal flooding that may leave Tampa Bay under 10 feet of water. Milton has the potential of pushing even more Gulf water onto the coast than Helene, which hit a rural stretch of the state’s Big Bend region in the north. Despite Helene making landfall hundreds of miles away, communities along the gulf coast on Florida’s peninsula were wrecked by significant flooding.

Milton’s flooding, however, will directly hit a much more heavily-populated part of the state as the storm moves east along Interstate 4 toward the Atlantic Ocean.

DeSantis said a direct hit on Tampa Bay would be the most challenging scenario for the state.

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“From the entire time I’ve been governor, you look at different scenarios, and probably the scenario that was one that is challenging in terms of the damage, would be a major hurricane going into Tampa Bay, just because it’s so vulnerable,” DeSantis said. “When you’re talking about Tampa Bay, and you talk about what even 10 feet of storm surge would do … the greater Tampa Bay area is millions of people.”

DeSantis was joined by Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, who said he expects millions of people to evacuate from the peninsula in the coming days as local emergency officials call out voluntary and mandatory orders. He expected the effort to rival Hurricane Irma in 2017, which led to the evacuation of more than 6.8 million people.

“I have the state emergency response team preparing for the largest evacuation that we have seen — most likely — since 2017’s Hurricane Irma,” Guthrie said.

The National Weather Service is warning that the forecasted intensification of the storm as it moves across the warm waters of the Gulf is likely to see Milton as a major hurricane by the time it makes landfall.

Milton is forecast to quickly intensify while it moves across the Gulf of Mexico and be a major hurricane when it reaches the west coast of the Florida Peninsula mid-week. Do not focus on the small details of the current forecast, as there remains significant uncertainty in the eventual track and intensity of Milton.

And while it is too soon to specify the exact magnitude and location of the greatest impacts, there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds for portions of the west coast of Florida beginning Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Residents in the Florida Peninsula should follow any advice given by local officials and check back for updates to the forecast.

Areas of heavy rainfall will impact portions of Florida today and Monday well ahead of Milton, with heavy rainfall more directly related to the system expected later on Tuesday through Wednesday night. This rainfall will bring the risk of flash, urban, and areal flooding, along with the potential of moderate to major river flooding.

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Videos like this one have been coming out of Florida all day, with residents wanting to be fully prepared.

With all the talk of geoengineering lately with Hurricane Helene, I can’t help but wonder — are we seeing more of the same?  Milton has definitely increased in strength faster than anticipated, even considering the warm Gulf air that is adding to it’s rapid development into a major hurricane.

UPDATE:  According to the following information shared by Chuck Callesto in X.com the projected path is looking more and more as if it will be a direct hit to Tampa, Florida.  Please be advised — the storm is still too far away from possible landfall to be certain of anything.  And this information is likely to change over the next few hours and throughout the day Monday.  I have also seen reports that multiple storm tracks have Milton strengthening to a Category 5 storm prior to landfall.

This is breaking news, and it remains to be seen how orderly the evacuation happens, or even how Floridians will respond to state officials urging them to do so.  We will bring you updates as they are available on the evacuation process, and the path of Milton as it approaches landfall.


 

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