Florida battered by rain and tornadoes as Hurricane Milton approaches

Hurricane Milton hurled rain, tornadoes and tropical storm-force winds at the US coast on Wednesday as time began to run out for residents to evacuate from the potentially catastrophic path the storm was carving toward Florida.

The National Hurricane Centre stressed that it was not certain where Milton's centre would come ashore Wednesday night because the storm's path might wobble, but the entire Tampa Bay region and points south were at grave risk. Tropical storm-force winds began lashing the coast Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier, officials issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival.

This is it, folks, said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.

 

By late afternoon, some officials said the time had passed for such efforts.

Unless you really have a good reason to leave at this point, we suggest you just hunker down, Polk County Emergency Management Director Paul Womble said in a public update.

Likewise, Pasco County officials told residents it was time to ride out the storm where you are and to expect that emergency workers would not be able to respond to calls for several hours during the storm.

Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and plowing across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through Thursday.

Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull's-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

That doesn't mean that it couldn't happen, said Luisa Meshekoff, who nevertheless was staying put with her partner and eight cats in their home, a brick warehouse in a mandatory evacuation zone in Tampa's Channel District. The couple considered leaving but felt bringing the cats to a shelter wasn't an option, and they worried that getting stuck on the roads could be dangerous.

I think if you have water and batteries, everything's OK, Meshekoff said. I could be singing a different tune by 2 in the morning.

Milton threatened communities still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded streets and homes in western Florida and left at least 230 people dead across the South. In many places along the coast, municipalities raced to collect and dispose of debris before Milton's winds and storm surge could toss it around and compound any damage.

With the storm weaker but growing in size, the surge was projected to reach as high as 12 feet (3.6 metres) in Tampa Bay and up to 13 feet (4 metres) farther south, between Sarasota and Fort Myers.

Jackie Curnick said she wrestled with her decision to stay and hunker down at home in Sarasota. But with a 2-year-old son and a baby girl due October 29, Curnick and her husband thought it was for the best.

Curnick said they started packing Monday to evacuate, but they couldn't find any available hotel rooms, and the few they came by were too expensive.

She said there were too many unanswered questions if they got in the car and left: Where to sleep, if they'd be able to fill up their gas tank, and if they could even find a safe route out of the state.

The thing is it's so difficult to evacuate in a peninsula, she said. In most other states, you can go in any direction to get out. In Florida there are only so many roads that take you north or south.

The famous Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which spans the mouth of Tampa Bay, closed around midday. Other major bridges also closed.

Yesterday I said the clock was ticking. Today I'm saying the alarm bell is really going off. People need to get to their safe place," said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service.

At a news conference in Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis described deployment of a wide range of resources, including 9,000 National Guard members from Florida and other states; over 50,000 utility workers from as far as California; and highway patrol cars with sirens to escort gasoline tankers to replenish supplies so people could fill up their tanks before evacuating.

Unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don't think there's any way around that, DeSantis said.

As of Wednesday evening, Milton was centred about 35 miles (50 kilometers) west-southwest of Sarasota and had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph), the hurricane centre reported. It was moving northeast at 15 mph (28 kph), slowing slightly from earlier in the day.

Heavy rain and tornadoes lashed parts of southern Florida starting Wednesday morning, with conditions deteriorating throughout the day. Six to 12 inches (15 to 31 centimeters) of rain, with up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) in some places, was expected well inland, bringing the risk of catastrophic flooding.

One twister touched down Wednesday morning in the lightly populated Everglades and crossed Interstate 75. Another apparent tornado touched down in Fort Myers, snapping tree limbs and tearing a gas station's canopy to shreds.

Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 15 Florida counties with a total population of about 7.2 million people. Officials warned that anyone staying behind must fend for themselves, because first responders were not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.

St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch told residents to expect long power outages and the possible shutdown of the sewer system.

In Charlotte Harbour, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Tampa, clouds swirled and winds gusted as Josh Parks packed his Kia sedan with clothes and other belongings. Two weeks ago, Helene's surge brought about 5 feet of water to the neighbourhood, and its streets remain filled with waterlogged furniture, torn-out drywall and other debris.

Parks, an auto technician, planned to flee to his daughter's home inland and said his roommate already left.

I told her to pack like you aren't coming back, he said.

By early afternoon, airlines had cancelled about 1,900 flights. SeaWorld was closed all day Wednesday, and Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando shut down in the afternoon.

More than 60 per cent of gas stations in Tampa and St. Petersburg were out of gas Wednesday afternoon, according to GasBuddy. DeSantis said the state's overall supply was fine, and highway patrol officers were escorting tanker trucks to replenish the supply.

In the Tampa Bay area's Gulfport, Christian Burke and his mother stayed put in their three-story concrete home overlooking the bay. Burke said his father designed this home with a Category 5 in mind and now they're going to test it.

As a passing police vehicle blared encouragement to evacuate, Burke acknowledged staying isn't a good idea and said he's not laughing at this storm one bit".