Hurricane Milton tracker map shows Category 5 storm racing toward Florida
Hurricane Milton in the southern Gulf of Mexico has strengthened into a Category 5 storm and is barreling toward Florida.
Milton grew into a Category 3 at 7am ET on Monday and into a Category 4 by 9am, according to the National Hurricane Center. By midday, Milton had become a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds around 160mph.
Category 5 hurricanes have winds of 175mph or greater.
Milton’s wind speed hiked up by 92mph in 24 hours, making it third in such intensification after Hurricane Felix in 2007 and Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
Its small size and ‘pinhole eye’ like Wilma’s contributed to its rapid growth, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Milton is projected to make landfall in Florida’s west coast on Wednesday evening, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene wrecked havoc on the same area of the coastline.
Flood watches have been issued across the Florida Peninsula affecting up to 15million people, and 11million face the threat of tropical tornadoes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Milton could go ashore in the Tampa Bay region and ravage central Florida as a hurricane before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean.
‘This is the real deal here with Milton,’ said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
‘If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.’
Tampa Bay is still recovering from Helene, which killed a dozen people just in that region.
Governor Ron DeSantis stressed the importance of clearing the debris from Helene to avoid the pieces becoming projectiles for Milton.
‘We don’t have time for bureaucracy and red tape,’ said DeSantis.
At least one storm path tracker has Milton landfall at 8pm, and reaching the Atlantic Ocean by 8am on Thursday and continuing Friday and Saturday farther away from the US mainland.
Besides Florida, other states torn by Helene including the Carolinas and Georgia are expected to be spared by Milton.
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