Hurricane Milton is barreling across the Gulf of Mexico and is forecast to make landfall late Wednesday on the west coast of Florida near Tampa, threatening life and property with towering storm surges, devastating winds and catastrophic flooding.
Milton is now a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 155 mph. The storm was centered about 230 miles southwest of Tampa and moving northeast at 16 mph but is "expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida tonight," the NHC said in its 9 a.m. ET advisory.
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Millions were ordered or urged to evacuate and thousands of fleeing cars clogged Florida's highways ahead of the storm, but time for evacuations was running out Wednesday. Officials warned that stragglers would face grim odds of surviving.
Forecasters warn the immense and powerful storm could generate “life-threatening” storm surge of up to 15 feet in Tampa, a region that's particularly flood-prone. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor noted that would be deep enough to swallow an entire house.
“So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in,” Castor said.
The storm is already producing tornadoes over parts of south-central Florida, and the tornado threat will likely persist through today, according to an NBC News forecast.
Florida's west coast is already experiencing rain, which is expected to intensify later today. Up to 18 inches of rain is forecasted from Tampa to Orlando, with a high likelihood of significant inland flooding overnight.
Officials have warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, as first responders are not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered across 11 Florida counties with a combined population of about 5.9 million. Gov. Ron DeSantis and others warned people Tuesday to finish their storm preparations and leave.
“Time is running out," DeSantis said on Tuesday. "But you do have time today to heed any evacuation orders and do what you need to do to protect yourself and your families.”
Thousands have evacuated to public shelters around the Tampa Bay area, and there's still room for more residents, Pinellas County said on X. Counties in Central Florida also opened emergency shelters to house those in danger from the storm.
Milton's stunning scale was captured from space by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick. Dominick posted video on X through the window of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour, which is currently docked at the International Space Station.
Tampa International Airport halted flights Tuesday morning and nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it is in a mandatory evacuation zone and closed after the last flight left Tuesday. It said all flights were canceled Wednesday and Thursday. Orlando International Airport — the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked — said it would cease operations Wednesday morning.
More than 1,700 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been cancelled Wednesday and 1,700 more were already cancelled for Thursday, according to the flight tracking site Flight Aware.
With Milton targeting communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene, many residents who are hunkering down are concerned about the dangers posed by the piles of debris left in Helene's wake. State and local governments scrambled ahead of the storm to clear as much debris as possible to prevent the loose wreckage from becoming flying projectiles. Still, piles of soggy furniture, appliances and other trash remained.
"And that's going into everywhere, and going to be damaging homes more, knocking out windows, taking out cars, and I don't know who to call," Marie Deering, a resident in Apollo Beach, just 17 miles south of Tampa, told NBC News.
In St. Petersburg, Ariel Dalmau rode out Hurricane Helene but is evacuating for Milton. Dalmau told NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa that he doesn’t want to be here to see what damage the debris does from not being picked up.
“All this garbage out here [is] going to be like a weapon for this hurricane,” Dalmau said.
The storm landed on the Mexican Caribbean coast on Tuesday, bringing strong winds that knocked down trees and disrupted power lines across Quintana Roo.
Mexican officials said so far no fatalities have been reported, only minor damages such as waterlogged roads, fallen trees, and power outages.
Yucatán's governor said economic activity, as well as government services, would be gradually returning to normal Wednesday, now that the biggest threat from the storm has passed.
He said the government would work “to guarantee that where there was structural damage, the necessary operations are carried out to re-establish them as quickly as possible.”
Tampa Bay has not been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921, and authorities fear luck is about to run out for the region and its 3.3 million residents. The city's extensive urban development over the past century puts more people and coastal structures in harm's way.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday in an advisory.
Another problem is the region's topography. Florida’s western coastline along the Gulf of Mexico isn’t very deep, and it features a gentle underwater slope, allowing Milton to more easily push water up the continental shelf, Cody Fritz, the Storm Surge Unit Team Lead at the National Hurricane Center told NBC News.
President Joe Biden, who postponed an overseas trip so he could remain at the White House to monitor Milton, approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were mobilized to help in one of the largest mobilizations of federal personnel in history, The Associated Press reported.
“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said during a news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time."
The sheriff of the county that includes Tampa, part of the most populous region in Milton’s bull’s-eye, said that those in mandatory evacuation zones who stay put are gambling with their lives, NBC News reported.
“They’re on their own, you know,” Sheriff Chad Chronister of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, told “Top Story with Tom Llamas” last night.
“I don’t know why you’re gambling with your life or the life of your loved one, but realize this storm is going to be different,” the sheriff said. “When these wind shear and wind speeds reach a certain speed, I can’t imagine a feeling when someone calls for help and there’s no one coming.”
