People in Florida are preparing for another catastrophic storm, less than two weeks after one slammed into their coastline. They were warned on Monday that Hurricane Milton had intensified “explosively” and they should leave the area.
Officials with the National Hurricane Center classified the storm as a Category 5, the strongest on the scale. Maximum sustained winds have reached 280 kilometers per hour.
Residents of the southeastern US are still picking up after Hurricane Helene hit the region, killing more than 200 people. They are expecting Milton to roar into the west coast of Florida late Wednesday, with a powerful storm surge and torrential rains.
The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, said government officials have allocated additional resources to remove debris still on the streets after Helene. “That creates a huge hazard if you have a major hurricane hit in that area this week,” he said.
Millions of people are trying to flee before the hurricane makes landfall. But they have found highway traffic clogged.