Florida's New Evacuation May Be Biggest in 7 Years

Hurricane Milton is coming, and it will test both the state and FEMA
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 7, 2024 6:30 AM CDT
Florida's New Evacuation May Be Biggest in 7 Years
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taken at 7:41pm ET on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, shows Hurricane Milton, which quickly intensified Sunday and is on track to become a major hurricane with the Tampa Bay, Fla., area in its sights.   (NOAA via AP)

Hurricane Milton is headed straight for Florida this week on the heels of Hurricane Helene, and it may force the largest number of evacuations in seven years, reports the Washington Post. In fact, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri warned Sunday that authorities would be "more assertive" about getting people out of mandatory evacuation zones. "I don't want to hear 1,500 calls coming over this radio where people are pleading for help and we can't get to you," he said.

  • Path: Milton is on track to make landfall on the state's west coast Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area, per the AP. Major metro areas at risk are Tampa and Orlando. Milton became a Category 2 storm early Monday in the Gulf of Mexico and quickly after became a Category 3.

  • Prep: The state is in the midst of a round-the-clock effort to clear trees and debris from Helene to minimize the risk of flying objects, said Gov. Ron DeSantis, per NBC News. Roughly 7 million people had to evacuate in 2017 when Hurricane Irma struck, and Florida is hoping to avoid the chaos of that mass exodus with the setup of more emergency shelters and by making fuel and charging stations more accessible along evacuation routes. "You have time to prepare—all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday," said DeSantis. "If you're on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you'll be asked to leave."
  • FEMA: All of the above is straining resources at FEMA, and a big question is whether Congress will return in emergency session to provide the federal agency with more funding. Newsweek notes that FEMA's response to Helene has become a "political flashpoint," with the White House fending off rumors that money has been diverted from the agency to help migrants. The outlet has a separate fact-check debunking those rumors.
  • A first: The Atlantic currently has three hurricanes: Milton and, much farther east, Kirk and Leslie, per USA Today. That marks the first time the Atlantic has had three simultaneous hurricanes after September, says Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University.
(More hurricanes stories.)

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