Hurricane Milton: How many people have evacuated the Tampa Bay area?
One of the biggest evacuations in state history is underway as residents in western Florida have been urged to leave before Hurricane Milton hits.
Mandatory evacuation orders are in place in costal zones of Florida as Hurricane Milton churns its way across the Gulf of Mexico. The center of the Category 5 Hurricane is forecast to hit around the Tampa Bay area, which if that happens would be the city’s first direct hit since 1921.
The National Weather Service is predicting 10 to 15 feet of storm surge north and south of the hurricane’s center. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued a dire warning to locals who do not heed the evacuation orders, “I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die,” she told CNN.
“This is something that I have never seen in my life and I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has ever seen anything like this before. People need to get out.,” she added. “If we have the predicted storm surge, it is not survivable.”
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Hurricane Milton: How many people have evacuated the Tampa Bay area?
The wind field of Milton is expected to double in size by the time it makes landfall some time late Wednesday or early Thursday according to the National Hurricane Center. Roughly 11.4 million people are under hurricane warnings in Florida. The eleven counties most at risk have issued mandatory evacuation orders and are home to approximately 5.9 million people, 3.3 million of whom live in the Tampa Bay area.
Authorities have warned that the window to leave is rapidly closing. The outer rain bands are already dropping rain over parts of Florida. The monster storm is forecast to dump immense amounts of rain presenting a risk of severe inland flooding.
Much of central Florida is expected to see 5 to 12 inches of rain with the heaviest precipitation to the north of the storm’s center. On its current track, the I-4 corridor could see up to 18 inches presenting the risk of catastrophic life-threatening flooding.
Milton regained strength on Tuesday, returning to a Category 5 with 165 mph winds. As of Wednesday morning, it was 350 miles southwest of Tampa Bay, according to the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay. While it is predicted to weaken before it reaches the western coast of Florida, it is still expected to be a major hurricane, Category 3 or higher.