20 photos capture mass evacuations and travel chaos across Florida highways (original) (raw)
Hurricane Milton: 20 photos show mass evacuations as highways clogged and travel chaos grips Florida
Hurricane Milton is mere hours away from ripping through Florida after officials pleaded with civilians to seek shelter.
Hurricane Milton, the Category 3 storm that has been dubbed the storm of a century by several meteorologists, is moments away from ripping through central Florida leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The storm, which is expected to make landfall near Tampa Bay, has stunned several experts over how fast the storm has gone from a tropical storm to a deadly storm.
Several Florida officials, including Governor Ron DeSantis and Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor, have urged residents they need to seek shelter before the storm hits, otherwise, they are facing the possibility of death. "This is literally catastrophic, and I can say without dramatization whatsoever — if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you're gonna die," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN. "Anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this."
According to hurricane experts, the storm is expected to generate an 8-to 12-foot storm surge as well as douse central Florida with several inches of rain. Meteorologists have attributed the storm's sudden surge in power to the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to the arrival of Milton, DeSantis had begged crews to work faster to remove the damage from Hurricane Helene — which passed over the state a week ago — stating that anything left could become a dangerous projectile when Milton strikes.
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Despite the pleas of both officials, some residents have elected to stay put. One Florida man, who is an amputee, said that he would be staying put in his own home despite all the dangers. “I know that God didn’t bring me this far for something to happen to me,” said the man who goes by the name of Jay in a video of an interview with the Weather Channel.
According to the interview, the man stated that he managed to survive the devastating effects of Helene. “The more you go through it, the more you learn,” Jay told the reporter. “I’m confident in my ability to ride it out unless it turns into a Wizard of Oz-type situation, and I wind up in Kansas.” At the end of the interview, he told the reporter: "I’ll be here. I’ll see you Friday."
As of Wednesday, Milton was centered about 360 miles southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, reported the National Hurricane Center. According to experts, they believe that the hurricane will retain its strength even after making landfall.
In response to Florida's desperate situation, President Joe Biden has already officially approved Florida's State of Emergency declaration and the state's representative Kathy Castor stated that the federal government has started mobilizing 7,000 federal workers to help with the distribution of supplies.