Residents of central Florida are already being told to EVACUATE as Hurricane Milton churns toward the state. This morning, the storm is 765 miles southwest of Tampa, heading right at that city and all of central Florida.
As seen on the image above, Milton is expected to make landfall near Tampa on WEDNESDAY - a day earlier than first forecast. This morning, maximum sustained winds are already 125 MPH and the storm is still strengthening.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Flash Flooding will take place from south of Tampa, east to Orlando and all the way north to Jacksonville.
The forecast STORM SURGE in the Tampa area, as the storm comes ashore, is being forecast at a staggering Nine to eighteen feet above normal tide! It will flood a mile inland, knocking houses off their foundations.
Damage from this storm - even if it does not continue to strengthen, is already forecast to be "catastrophic."
Because the storm is already so large, with a massive wind field that will cover almost ALL of Florida when it arrives, state government had declared a state of emergency in 51 of Florida's 67 counties and is already telling people to EVACUATE.
Governor Ron DeSantis is telling folks to "leave now, while there is no traffic, and get to safety."
People would do well to heed this advice.
UPDATE 9:47 AM EDT --
Hurricane Milton has increased in strength to 150 MPH winds, making it a strong Category FOUR (4) Hurricane.
INCREDIBLE INTENSIFICATION:
A 'steady intensification' rate for a hurricane is a pressure drop of one millibar per hour. Milton has dropped NINE millibars in the past 60 minutes. That is at the upper echelon of recorded pressure drop rates in Atlantic-basin hurricanes (Wilma, 2005). It may become a Category 5 later today.”
