Milton Flood, Flooding and Dangerous Winds: Warnings for the Big Bend Category 4 Storm and Emergency Management on Florida’s West Coast
A powerful Category 4 storm made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm on September 26th with a 15-foot storm surge before ripping a path of destruction across the southeastern part of the US. Milton could prove to be even more dangerous to Florida, in particular, as it barrels toward more populated regions along the state’s western coast.
The center of the storm is near the coast of Mexico and west of Florida. The coast of the Yucatan Peninsula is under a hurricane warning, while hurricane watches, storm surge watches and tropical storm watches and warnings are in effect for parts of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula.
The eastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida’s west coast are expected to be crossed by the movement of Milton on Monday and Tuesday.
There is a possibility of flash flooding, as well as the possibility for moderate to major river flooding in portions of Florida on Monday, and again on Tuesday and Wednesday.
There is also a growing risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds for parts of Florida’s west coast beginning late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The forecast calls for it to raise water levels as high as 12 feet in some parts of Florida.
The NHC advises people in that area to follow any advice given by local officials and to leave the area.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already expanded an emergency declaration to cover 51 of the state’s 67 counties and is warning people across the peninsula to prepare.
“Do not get wedded to the cone,” he tweeted on Sunday. Even though you don’t live in the forecast cone, you should be prepared for potential impacts. We recommend following the local officials’ orders.
There is a chance that almost 6.8 million people in Florida will leave their homes when the state has the biggest emergency since Hurricane 2017, said Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Emergency Management.
But he also cautioned inland residents who don’t live in an evacuation zone or depend on electricity for medical needs that “it may be better for you to just stay in place.”
In the past few months, residents in certain low-lying areas have been ordered to leave, as has all residential healthcare facilities in certain zones.
Guthrie also said Floridians should take into account that many are still recovering from Helene: Did they use up their reserves of water, food, pet food? Are they required to buy fresh batteries? Have they restocked their supply kits to last each family member up to seven days?
It notes that public school districts in many counties will be closed from Monday through at least Wednesday and that Florida Gulf Coast University — near Fort Myers — will close its campus Tuesday and Wednesday, after shifting to remote operations.
It is expected to exit into the Atlantic Ocean, sparing the states it ravaged the most including Georgia and the Carolinas.
One of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the mainland US in recent times came in the year 2005 with a death toll of over 200. The Associated Press reports that most of the victims were in North Carolina.
Climate change is making it easier for hurricanes to strengthen quickly and bring even more wind and rain to the area.
It is the first time in recorded history that there have been three simultaneous hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to Milton, Hurricanes Kirk and Leslie are also brewing.
This is almost three times what the threshold is used for. So, yeah, this is definitely off the charts,” Karthik Balaguru, a climate scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, says. Only Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and Hurricane Felix in 2007 have strengthened more rapidly than that, the NHC says.