US braces for ‘not survivable’ storm

Over a million people in Florida have been told to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm that is being touted as potentially the worst in over a century.

Milton has caught meteorologists by surprise, strengthening from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just two days. It is expected to make landfall near Tampa late on Wednesday.

“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” US President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday.

Governor Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to take the storm seriously, warning that time is running out for safe evacuations.

“If you’re going to get out, get out now,” he said. “Almost every place on the west coast of Florida could get a major storm surge.”

Milton is “not survivable,” Liz Alpert, the mayor of Sarasota, told NBC News. “You have to evacuate.”

Parts of Florida are still dealing with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago. The Category 4 storm made landfall in the Big Bend region near the state capital of Tallahassee, before causing major floods further inland, in Georgia and the Carolinas.

Milton is a much stronger storm, with wind gusts over 320 km/h and an unprecedented number of “lightning events,” according to meteorologists.

It’s not just residents that are fleeing to the north and the south of the state. The Florida Aquarium in Tampa has moved its penguins, snakes, lizards, alligators, turtles, toads, and crabs to higher ground, so they would be safe from flooding. Meanwhile, the state bureau of corrections has evacuated 4,636 inmates from prisons and jails in the path of the storm.

The Walt Disney World and Universal Studios theme parks both announced they would be closing ahead of the storm, as its projected path will take it over Orlando.

More than 1,500 flights in and out of Florida scheduled for Wednesday have been canceled already. Tampa International Airport closed on Tuesday, while Orlando International said it would cease operations on Wednesday morning.