October 9, 2024 – 06:29
Traffic congestion on I-75 as cars travel east from Florida's west coast before Hurricane Milton reaches Big Cypress, Florida. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP
Mandatory evacuation orders have been ordered for more than 1 million people on Florida's coast, the largest such operation in the state's history, MTI reported. According to Reuters Thousands are currently trying to leave the threatened areas, causing traffic jams and fuel shortages. Now, with the help of the police, they are delivering the missing fuel to gas stations.
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on the state's west coast Wednesday evening, Gov. Ron DeSantis reported. According to meteorologists, the center of the hurricane will make landfall around Tampa, but it may cause severe damage in a strip several hundred kilometers wide.
The mandatory evacuation affects coastal areas, where sea heights are expected to reach 4 metres. Officials in Florida have drawn attention to the fact that remaining on the beach during a storm's landfall poses a deadly risk. The state's densely populated West Coast areas were devastated by Hurricane Helen just two weeks ago. Nearly 250 people died in six states due to Hurricane Helen and the ensuing floods, many more remain missing, and as of Tuesday, about 150,000 consumers were without power.
For the first time since 1921, the Gulf can be reached directly by hurricane force, when Tampa-St. The St. Petersburg-Clearwater area has been a relatively stagnant area. Today it is home to more than 3 million people.
The largest evacuation in Florida history caused long traffic jams on highways leading inland from the coast to the north and west. Regarding the fuel shortage, DeSantis stressed that the state has sufficient reserves, namely millions of liters of diesel and gasoline. In order for the shipments to reach the wells as quickly as possible, highway police patrols are assisted by fuel trucks that operate around the clock.
The eye of the storm was 710 kilometers from Tampa at 2 a.m. Hungarian time on Wednesday and was moving at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour. According to calculations, the storm may lose its strength during the next 24 hours, but it may remain one of the most intense hurricanes of the last century, as it reaches Florida from the west. The cyclone can dump up to 300 mm of rain in a short period of time, due to which flooding can also be expected.
