Warnings to flee as Hurricane Milton begins to lash Florida

Hurricane Milton is hurling rain and gusty winds at the Tampa Bay area on its steady and potentially catastrophic march toward the west coast of Florida, where officials sounded urgent warnings for residents to evacuate.

The National Hurricane Centre stressed that it was not certain exactly where Milton’s centre would come ashore on Wednesday night because the storm’s path might “wobble”, but that the entire Tampa Bay region and points south were at grave risk.

Tropical storm-force winds were just off the coast around midday, the centre said.

“This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay.

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“Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.”

Milton has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida but was a strong Category 4 hurricane at midday and was expected to remain a major storm when its centre hits land and then ploughs across the state, forecasters said.

Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bullseye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

Residents should not feel relief because of indications Milton’s centre might come ashore south of Tampa, Ms Perkins said: “Everybody in Tampa Bay should assume we are going to be ground zero.”

Milton targets communities still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida along its devastating march that left at least 230 dead across the South.

In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton’s winds and storm surge — projected to reach as high as 12 feet in Tampa Bay and up to 15 feet farther south, between Sarasota and Fort Myers — could toss it around and compound any damage.

In Pasco County, home to over half a million people in bedroom communities for Tampa and St Petersburg, officials said shortly before noon that they were getting ready to take buses off the road.

“This is your last chance if you need to get to a shelter,” they said in a statement. “After that, you’ll need to find a way to the shelter or be prepared to ride out the storm.”

The famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans the mouth of Tampa Bay, closed around midday. Other major bridges closed, as well.

At a news conference in Tallahassee, Governor Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort fuel tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating.

“Unfortunately, there will be fatalities; I don’t think there’s any way around that,” Mr DeSantis said.

Heavy rain and tornadoes lashed parts of southern Florida starting Wednesday morning, with conditions deteriorating. Six to 12 inches of rain, with up to 18 inches in some places, was expected well inland, bringing the risk of catastrophic flooding.

One tornado touched down in the lightly populated Everglades and crossed Interstate 75. Another apparent tornado touched down in Fort Myers, snapping tree limbs and tearing a petrol station’s canopy to shreds.

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 11 Florida counties with a population of about 5.9 million people.

Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, with first responders not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.