Potentially catastrophic’ Hurricane Milton effect predicted Florida

There is not much longer for people to flee, according to Governor Ron DeSantis.

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, DeSantis stated, “We have to assume this is going to be a monster,” as officials issued a warning about the storm’s category five status.

Just ten days have passed since Hurricane Helene, the deadliest mainland hurricane since Katrina in 2005, devastated the southeast of the US and claimed at least 225 lives. Hurricane Milton is the subject of warnings. There are still hundreds missing.

At least 14 of those deaths were in Florida, where 51 of 67 counties are now under emergency warnings as Milton approaches.

“Unfortunately, some of the Helene victims are in the path of this storm,” DeSantis stated.

The National Weather Service (NWS) director, Ken Graham, said that Milton had strengthened into a category five hurricane at a record-breaking rate, with wind gusts exceeding 80 knots (148 km/h) in just one day.

“That’s the third highest we have on record,” he said.

Hurricanes are categorized into five groups based on the wind speed.

The NWS states that because of their capacity to cause significant damage and fatalities, hurricanes that strengthen to a category three or above are considered major hurricanes.

Hurricane Milton is expected to diminish as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and become a category three hurricane by the time it lands near Florida’s Tampa Bay on Wednesday night or early on Thursday.