Milton has rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm and could make landfall Wednesday.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Hurricane Milton is expected to bring deadly flooding and powerful winds to Florida by Wednesday, as the state braces for evacuations and power companies and localities scramble to find help.
The storm, which is expected to make landfall less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene touched down in the state, could test Florida’s storm recovery operations. Debris from Helene still dot streets in hard-hit areas — and the widespread devastation across the Southeast will strain access to linemen and debris removal crews that are critical to a speedy storm recovery.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a Monday news conference at the Florida Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee that Milton, which strengthened to a Category 5 storm on Monday, could bring a deadly storm surge along the most heavily populated stretch of the Gulf Coast before moving east across the state through Thursday, potentially bringing hurricane-force winds as it hits the Atlantic Ocean.
Tampa Bay could see up to 12 feet of coastal flooding from Milton, which DeSantis said would be devastating for an area that close to 1 million people call home.
Evacuation orders have already been issued by emergency officials in Pasco County, and Pinellas County was expected to issue orders later on Monday. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami believe Milton will weaken before it makes landfall somewhere around Tampa Bay, but DeSantis said residents in the path of the hurricane should not hesitate if they choose to evacuate.
“This is going to be something really significant one way or another,” DeSantis said. “You still have time to do this today.”
Hurricane Center forecasters wrote in a Monday morning report that Milton is expected to bring life-threatening impacts well inland.
“The system is expected to be a large and powerful hurricane at landfall in Florida, with life-threatening hazards at the coastline and well inland,” forecasters for the National Hurricane Center wrote late Monday afternoon. They described the storm as having “the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.” Nearly the entire coast of Florida was under some sort of watch or warning by Monday afternoon.
DeSantis said residents have just a couple of days to prepare for Milton, as power companies across the state race to bring in contracted line crews from thousands of miles away to help restore power after the storm has passed.
The storm could be the second major hurricane to hit Florida in two weeks after Helene slammed into the Big Bend. Despite Helene making landfall hundreds of miles away from Milton’s projected path, Helene’s sheer size brought widespread damage all along the Florida Gulf Coast.
But the thousands of linemen who arrived in Florida ahead of Helene and helped restore more than 2 million electric customers in days have since left for other areas of the country hit hard by that storm. Now, utility companies are bringing in crews from as far away as Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
“They’re bringing people in from far and wide to respond accordingly,” DeSantis said. “The resources are being brought in, and the power restoration effort will begin as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Helene’s torrential rainfall led to flooding in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, leaving dozens of mountain communities cut off from roads and millions of people without power. The magnitude of the damage led linemen and debris removal crews that had been brought to Florida ahead of Helene to head north, leaving mountains of debris still left along roadways in areas that now could be impacted by Milton. To help with the cleanup, DeSantis has called on the Florida National Guard, the state Department of Transportation — even private citizens — to help.
Milton’s approach to the Tampa area comes as the Federal Emergency Management Agency remains engaged in response efforts for Helene in Florida and across the Southeast. FEMA has enough resources to respond to both simultaneously and will not pull personnel from the active response to Helene, acting associate administrator for response and recovery Keith Turi told reporters Monday.
“We have the resources we need to respond to both Helene and Milton,” he said.
Turi noted that while he is confident the federal government has enough money to cover Helene and Milton, the federal disaster response fund is nonetheless running thin. He said the Biden administration told Congress earlier this year that it would need to provide more funding to meet fiscal year 2025 responsibilities. He said the disaster relief fund is something FEMA is “monitoring closely.”
Also on Monday, President Joe Biden approved a pre-storm emergency declaration for the state.
DeSantis has already signed a state emergency declaration for 51 counties in an executive order over the weekend. The order also directs dump sites specifically dedicated to storm debris to be open 24 hours a day. Debris removal companies that had contracted with cities and counties ahead of Helene but left the state before work was done have been placed on a list of companies that are banned from doing business with the state, state officials said.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management usually coordinates a pool of debris removal contractors that cities and counties can hire, but making sure those crews are on hand is up to the localities.
“We’ve made a huge dent in the debris, but there’s a lot of it,” DeSantis said. “That’s why we need to go all day, all through the night tomorrow, as long as possible.”
DeSantis had sent Florida emergency personnel to areas outside the state that were hit by Helene after initial search efforts were complete, and those people have since been brought back to Florida for Milton. They include Florida Highway Patrol troopers who are now being assigned to help the state Department of Transportation oversee the evacuation of potentially millions of residents.
DeSantis was joined by Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthire, who said people who live in low lying areas along the coast should evacuate immediately rather than wait at the last minute. Traffic has already picked up on Interstate 75 as people head north. Hotel rooms in areas not expected to be hit by the storm, such as Tallahassee, had become scarce by Sunday night.