The Florida Hospital Association is concerned about the severity of the Sunday afternoon Tropical Cyclone Storm. On Tuesday morning, Hurricane Milton made landfall near Tampa Bay
The storm was rated an ” extremely dangerous” by the National Hurricane Center Tuesday morning. As it makes landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday near Tampa, Milton is predicted to bring high winds and storm surges of 10 feet or higher to parts of Florida’s west coast and heavy rains throughout most of the peninsula.
Storm surge warnings are in effect for Florida’s west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. The Suwannee River region, including the city of Bonita Beach, is subject to Hurricane warnings. Hurricane warnings also are in effect for the state’s east coast from the St. Lucie-Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach.
School districts and government facilities in the area announced they would be closed for several days. Many people have been warned not to live in certain areas due to the fact that counties and state have enforced mandatory evacuate zones.
Ron DeSantis said you don’t have to evacuate hundreds of miles. You can go to all of the places in every county. Maybe it’s a friend’s house, maybe it’s a hotel, maybe it’s a shelter.”
Mary Mayhew, the president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, tells WIRED she is concerned about the magnitude of the storm. The organization represents the state’s more than 300 hospitals. Mayhew says that in the past hospitals have closed due to weather disasters but this time it is the large number of health care facilities that have fled ahead of Milton that is unusual.
Winds steadily grew stronger by early afternoon, blowing tree branches and leaves onto eerily quiet roads. Almost no stores were open and many Floridians fled to hotels or other shelters in the wake of the hurricanes, as there were few cars left. Through Tuesday, many residents clogged highways choosing to flee further north or south, out of the main path of Milton.
“There’s going to be impacts far beyond wherever the eye of the storm is,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “You should be executing your plan now. If you’re going to get out, get out now. You have time today. If you wait any longer, time will be running out very soon.
SARASOTA, Fla. — The skies over downtown are now gray and ominous as Hurricane Milton heads towards Florida.
But one 90-year-old resident of Englewood, Fla., a little over 30 miles south of Sarasota, was deciding at the last minute at a gas station whether to head further inland, north or south away from Milton.
LaLonde says he has a house by the bay. He said the weather has been nice. “And then I turned on the television this morning, and oh my God, they said, ‘Get out of Englewood.’ ” He took off but wasn’t sure which direction to go.
In spite of the very real threat to their homes, belongings and livelihoods, many Floridians taking shelter in hotels or evacuation centers in Sarasota remained in good spirits amid the bad weather. They were well taken care of, got comfortable, had fun, and prepared to ride out the storm with friends, families and pets.
Alan Staniforth, who evacuated his family from their home in Longboat Key to the Westin Sarasota on Tuesday, said life is more important than possessions, so they can always rebuild.
Before fleeing, the Staniforth family tried to fortify their house and put furniture and other possessions on higher ground. He told NPR he’s resigned to his belief that his home, renovated just four years ago, won’t be livable after Milton hits.
“We’ll probably spend the next six to 12 months rebuilding,” he said. It will be a long road to recovery for everyone, not just us. And I guess that’s the risk you take with living down fairly close to the ocean in Florida. It’s a great lifestyle but it comes with risks.
Emergency Radio Services Provided by the Florida Department of Meteorology and The Florida Beach Coastal Disaster Response Network (Tampa, Fla.)
Staniforth said, “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but you have to assume the worst and hope for the best.” Be pragmatic when it comes to it and not freak out. Freaking out is not going to help anybody, and so that’s kind of where we are right now.”
The NPR Network in Florida has member stations who are covering the local effect of a storm. For those that might lose power or cell service, note the frequency of your local station for your emergency radio needs.
“If the dunes are high enough, they might prevent the flooding from storm surge,” she says. “If they are not high enough to prevent the flooding, these systems can dissipate at least the waves, and protect the ecosystems and infrastructure behind them.”
The beaches and sand dunes along the Florida coast that protect coastal communities are beginning to erode as a result of the frequent extreme storms.
Flooding and winds damaged thousands of homes, according to member station WUSF. At least 12 people near Tampa in Pinellas County died because of Helene.
More than a thousand truckloads of debris have been removed from barrier islands in Pinellas County, and will continue until the area is no longer safe.
Flooding and Rainfall in the Tampa Bay Area during the 1946-2019 Tropical Tropical Cyclosmopolitan Hurricane Isotropy
She says roads and buildings can create areas of water flow convergence. The roads provide little resistance to the flow, and storm surge may be able to come inland more easily.
The wind pushes the water against the land lining a bay, she explains. The land blocks the flow of water and it accumulates on the coast.
The crescent-like shape of Tampa Bay, which is 400 square miles, and the intensity and track of the hurricane also affect how intense the surge will be, according to Maitane Olabarrieta, a professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Florida and associate director of the university’s Center for Coastal Solutions.
According to an associate professor in the University of Central Florida, the wide continental shelf with shallow water allows storms to create very large storm surge.
Much of the region is at low elevation and naturally prone to flooding. That’s exacerbated by rising sea levels. Since 1946, water levels in Tampa Bay have increased 7.8 inches and the region could experience sea levels rise another 2 to 8.5 feet by 2100, according to a 2019 analysis by the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel.
In the state’s most densely populated county, Pinellas, the metropolitan areas of Clearwater and St. Pete are close to the bay. Barrier islands line its Gulf coast.
Tampa General Hospital During Hurricane Harvey Harvey Recovery: Evacuation and Supply Chain Planning for a Large-Scale Healthcare Facility in the Davis Islands
More than 200 health care facilities in impacted areas have evacuated, including over 100 assisted living facilities and 10 hospitals. The Florida Department of Health has put together 12 special-need shelters and more than 600 ambulances in preparation for the storm.
Hospitals that are open have put in place disaster plans, moved electrical equipment away from the flood areas, and made sure they have the supplies needed in an emergency.
The hospital—which is sited on the Davis Islands at sea level and is protected by various systems including an AquaFence barrier—has an on-site central energy plant located 33 feet above sea level that can provide a power supply in the event of power disruption. According to Tampa General, the energy plant was built to withstand the impact and flooding of a Category 5 hurricane. The hospital says it has more than five days of supplies, including food and linens, on-site.