Florida hit with torrential rain as Storm Milton nears

Hurricane Milton hurled rain, tornadoes and tropical stormforce winds at the US coast yesterday as time began to run out for residents to evacuate from the potentially catastrophic path the storm was carving toward Florida.

The National Hurricane Center stressed that it was not certain where Milton’s centre would come ashore earlier today, although it was expected to land around GMT 0400. The centre said the storm’s path might “wobble” but the entire Tampa Bay region and points south were at grave risk. Tropical storm-force winds began lashing the coast yesterday afternoon.

Earlier, officials issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival. “This is it, folks,” said Cathie Perkins, emergency management director in Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay. “Those of you who were punched during Hurricane Helene, this is going to be a knockout. You need to get out, and you need to get out now.”

By late afternoon, some officials said the time had passed for such efforts. “Unless you really have a good reason to leave at this point, we suggest you just hunker down,” Polk County Emergency Management director Paul Womble said in a public update.

Likewise, Pasco County officials told residents it was “time to ride out the storm where you are” and to expect that emergency workers would not be able to respond to calls for several hours during the storm.

Milton, which has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida, was a Category 3 hurricane yesterday afternoon. It was expected to remain a hurricane after hitting land and plowing across the state, including the heavily populated Orlando area, through today.

Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull’s-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.