Hurricane Milton is surging toward Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm, and is now projected to make landfall slightly south of Tampa. As schools and airports shut down, highways are packed with evacuees who are facing gas shortages and are fearful of the damage they will return to. NBC’s Tom Llamas reports for TODAY.
and "catastrophic" storm, currently a Category 4 hurricane, is expected to make landfall late tonight. An NBC News forecast predicts landfall sometime between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. tomorrow.
The entire region is under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. as outer bands of Milton made their way through the area,Transit America Services workers dismantle rail crossing bars in in Kissimmee, Fla., yesterday ahead of the expected landfall of Hurricane Milton.Video from the U.S. Coast Guard this morning shows the rescue of four people and a dog after their small plane crashed as they were trying to flee Hurricane Milton yesterday.
With the help of police and St. Pete Fire Rescue, three of those passengers were treated at the scene and taken to a hospital with no life threatening injuries.A tornado watch has been issued across the bottom half of Florida, affecting more than 12 million people from Tampa to Key Largo. “We’re continuing to encourage people that it is not too late to get out. If you’re in those low-lying areas and mandatory evacuation zones of A, B and C, there is still time,” she said.“We’re planning for worst case scenario, which is devastating and which is why we’re telling people this is not the one to ride out,” she said, noting police and first responders are going door to door to encourage people to leave.
Ariel Dalmou said he and his family escaped Helene when floodwaters reached the bottom of the home's windows.However, yesterday there was still much debris from Helene yet to be removed from his neighborhood. “All this garbage out here going to be like a weapon for this hurricane,” Dalmau said.for missing man Robert Shank, 58, last seen early this morning around 1. a.m. in the backyard of his home.
She stressed that “people aren’t trapped,” in their homes and that police and special engagement teams are going door to door. “If it gets down to the point, we can just bring them to a shelter,” Castor said. “We came to the realization that we’re stuck here,” said Telissa Carpenter, an Indianapolis resident who is vacationing at Disney with her son for his 30th birthday.Gas pumps in Cocoa, Fla., are wrapped in plastic prior to the arrival of Hurricane Milton yesterday., piles of wet carpet, wood and pipes rotting in the sun, and abandoned cars and trucks littering roads glazed with mud and blocked by debris.
In a 5 a.m. ET update, the agency underlined that a storm surge warning is in place for almost the entirety of Florida's Gulf Coast, as well as a hurricane warning from Bonita Beach to the Suwannee River. The findings indicate that Hurricane Helene’s wind speeds were 11% more intense and its rainfall totals were about 10% higher because of climate change.For the second time in the last two weeks, a public health emergency has been declared in Florida because of a hurricane.
It’s unsafe for anyone, including those with badges, to be out amid tropical storm-level winds — those 39 to 73 mph — or greater, he said. Forecasters expect Milton to reach shore with destructive winds well above 100 mph, rain amounting to 10 inches, and a coastal storm surge as high as 10 feet.If that happens, 911 callers in communities under mandatory evacuations may not get help, he said.
Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate also downplayed any fears that FEMA isn’t up for the daunting challenge it faces.When Hurricane Milton reaches Florida’s Gulf Coast, forecasters warn, the immense and powerful storm could generate “life-threatening” storm surge of up to 15 feet in a region that’s particularly flood-prone.
Part of the 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.Almost the entirety of Florida was under hurricane warnings or watches, or tropical storm warnings early this morning as the storm approaches.
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