Hurricane Milton poses an 'extremely serious threat' as it barrels toward Florida

Caption

Heavy traffic flows northbound on Interstate 75 as people evacuate the Tampa Bay area ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival late Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Ocala, Fla. / AP

Communities in Florida are bracing for the impact of Hurricane Milton, which quickly went intensified from a tropical storm to a powerful, life-threatening hurricane much faster than predicted.

By early Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center had slightly downgraded Milton to a Category 4 storm, but officials at the agency warned of the storm's power. "Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida and residents are urged to follow the order of local officials," the NHC said.

As of 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Milton was about 560 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, inching along at 12 miles per hour. A slew of advisories are in effect in the area, where storm surges could get as high as 15 feet and maximum sustained wind speeds reduced slightly to 155 miles per hour.

Milton is expected to make landfall off the western coast of Florida late Wednesday or Thursday morning. But NHC forecasters also said that weather conditions in Florida may deteriorate much earlier on Wednesday.

"Hurricane conditions are expected in the warning area on the west coast of Florida as early as Wednesday afternoon, with tropical storm conditions beginning early Wednesday," the agency said.

School districts and government facilities in the area announced they would be closed for several days. Counties have enforced mandatory evacuation zones, and state and local officials have profusely warned residents to follow those orders.

In advance of the storm's arrival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 51 counties. "You don't have to evacuate hundreds of miles," Ron DeSantis has said. "Every county has places within them that you can go to. Maybe it's a friend's house, maybe it's a hotel, maybe it's a shelter."

Air travel into and around Florida is already being disrupted by Milton. The Tampa International Airport said it was pausing flights beginning 9 a.m. Tuesday. The Federal Aviation Administration said on X, formerly Twitter, said it was "closely monitoring" the path of the hurricane and advised travelers to check the agency's flight travel dashboard and their airlines for updates.