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Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane with winds reaching 160mph, as the potential “once in a lifetime” storm charts its path towards the already storm-battered Florida coast.
Milton is situated in the Southern Gulf of Mexico and is moving “erratically” northwest where it is expected to hit the heavily-populated Tampa Bay area by Wednesday.
The Pinellas County Sheriff issued a warning ahead of the storm’s prospective landfall, with Floridians asked to brace for what could be the largest evacuation since 2017’s Hurricane Irma.
“This is going to be bad. That’s all you need to know,” Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during an emergency conference on Sunday. “Everyone just needs to get out.”
Milton is racing towards areas already devastated by Hurricane Helene, which struck northern Florida on 26 September and caused more than 220 deaths across the Southeast.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned the storm surge and power outages could exceed those caused by Helene, especially given the leftover debris. “There are some areas with a lot of debris... if hit by a major hurricane, it’s going to dramatically increase damage,” he said.
President Joe Biden is due to be briefed this afternoon.
