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Climate and Environment

    • Hurricane Milton is growing stronger as it blows toward Florida's Tampa Bay region

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    MIAMI, Fla. -

    People across Florida were given notice Sunday that Hurricane Milton is intensifying rapidly and will likely be a major hurricane before slamming midweek into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.

    While forecast models vary widely, the most likely path suggests Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida into the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian mountains and a death toll that rose Sunday to 230 people.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen just where Milton will strike, it's clear that Florida is going to be hit hard 鈥 鈥淚 don't think there's any scenario where we don't have major impacts at this point.鈥

    Hurricane Milton was centered about 815 miles (1,310 kilometres) west-southwest of Tampa, Sunday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 80 m.p.h. (130 km/h), the National Hurricane Center said.

    鈥淵ou have time to prepare 鈥 all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,鈥 the governor said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you鈥檒l be asked to leave.鈥

    With Milton achieving hurricane status, this is is the first time the Atlantic has had three simultaneous hurricanes after September, said Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach. There have been four simultaneous hurricanes in August and September.

    The St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay area is still cleaning up extensive damage from Helene and its powerful storm surge. Twelve people perished as Helene swamped the coast, with the worst damage along the narrow, 20-mile (32-kilometre) string of barrier islands that stretch from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.

    DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties, and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption, making sure they have a week's worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, coordinated with the governor and briefed President Joe Biden Sunday on how it has staged lifesaving resources.

    鈥淚 highly encourage you to evacuate鈥 if you're in an evacuation zone, said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. 鈥淲e are preparing ... for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma. 鈥

    The state has prepared emergency fuel sources and EV charging stations along evacuation routes, and 鈥渋dentified every possible location that can possibly house someone along those routes,鈥 Guthrie said. People who live in homes built after Florida strengthened its codes in 2004, who don't depend on constant electricity and who aren't in evacuation zones, should probably avoid the roads, he said.

    All classes and school activities in St. Petersburg's Pinellas County preemptively closed Monday through Wednesday as Milton approached, and the Tampa opened city garages for free so people could park their cars safe from the next floodwaters.

    As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said, and he directed that Florida crews dispatched to North Carolina in Helene's aftermath return to the state to prepare for Milton.

    鈥淎ll available state assets ... are being marshaled to help remove debris,鈥 DeSantis said. 鈥淲e're going 24-7 ... it's all hands on deck."

    FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell defended her agency's response to Hurricane's destruction after Republicans鈥 false claims, amplified by former President Donald Trump, created a frenzy of misinformation across devastated communities.

    鈥淭his kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people and it鈥檚 really a shame we鈥檙e putting politics ahead of helping people,鈥 Criswell told ABC鈥檚 George Stephanopoulos. It's created fear and mistrust among residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground across the southeast, she said.

    Despite this, Criswell said the agency is already preparing for Milton, well before it's clear exactly where it will move across the Florida peninsula this week. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working with the state there to understand what their requirements are going to be, so we can have those in place before it makes landfall,鈥 she said.

    Federal disaster assistance has surpassed US$137 million since Helene struck more than a week ago, one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and resources in recent history, FEMA said Sunday.

    Some 1,500 active-duty troops, more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and nearly 7,000 federal workers have been deployed, shipping more than 14.9 million meals, 13.9 million liters of water, 157 generators and 505,000 tarps, along with approving more than US$30 million in housing and other types of assistance for over 27,000 households, according to FEMA, the White House and the Department of Defense.

    More than 800 people unable to return home are staying in lodging provided through FEMA, and 22 shelters are still housing nearly 1,000 people as mobile feeding operations continue to help survivors. The response to Helene won't let up during Milton and its aftermath, because FEMA has th capacity to address multiple disasters simultaneously, the agency said.

    鈥淢y Administration is sparing no resource to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding,鈥 Biden said. 鈥淲e will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders 鈥 regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.鈥

    The hurricane centre said Mexico鈥檚 Yucatan peninsula, the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the northwestern Bahamas should monitor the system鈥檚 progress. Heavy rainfall was expected Sunday ahead of the storm itself, and will likely then combine with Milton's rainfall to flood waterways and streets in Florida, where forecasters said up to a foot (30 centimetres) of rain could fall in places through Wednesday night.

    Meanwhile in the open Atlantic, Hurricane Kirk diminished to a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday, with top winds of 105 m.p.h. (165 km/h), sending large swells and 鈥渓ife-threatening surf and rip current conditions鈥 to Bermuda and northward along the U.S. and Canadian coasts, the centre said. Hurricane Leslie was also moving over the Atlantic Ocean, well away from land, with top winds of 85 mph (140 km/h).

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