Hurricane Milton intensified Sunday and is on track to become a major hurricane with the Tampa Bay area in its crosshairs, putting Florida on edge and sparking evacuation orders along a coast still reeling from Hurricane Helen’s devastation.

While forecast models vary, the most likely track is that Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida into the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said.

That would largely avoid other Southeastern states hit by Hurricane Helen, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains and the death toll on Sunday rose to at least 230 people.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that it’s clear Florida will be hit hard by Hurricane Milton — “I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have significant impacts at this point.”

The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Milton was located about 1,310 kilometers west-southwest of Tampa on Sunday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour.

“You have time to prepare — all day, all day Monday, and probably all day Tuesday to make sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” the governor said. “If you are on the west coast of Florida, the barrier islands, assume you will be asked to leave.”

In Pinellas County, home to the city of St. Petersburg, officials issued voluntary evacuation orders for people along barrier island beaches and mobile home parks. Mandatory evacuations are likely to follow.

Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach said that with Milton reaching hurricane status, this is the first time the Atlantic has been hit by three simultaneous hurricanes after September. There were four simultaneous hurricanes in August and September.

The St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay Area is still working to clean up the extensive damage left by Helen. Twelve people died as storms tore through the coast, with the worst damage occurring along the narrow 32-kilometre chain of barrier islands that stretches from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.

DeSantis expanded his emergency declaration on Sunday to 51 of the state’s 67 counties — which include more than 90 percent of the state’s population of about 23 million. The state’s Panhandle, which is still recovering from other recent storms, is expected to be mostly spared.

DeSantis said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption, making sure they have enough food and water to last a week and are ready to hit the road. Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinated with the governor and briefed President Joe Biden on Sunday on how to organize life-saving resources.

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“We are preparing … for the largest evacuation we have seen, probably since 2017, Hurricane Irma,” said Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management.

The state has prepared emergency fuel sources and electric vehicle charging stations along evacuation routes, and “identified every potential location that could shelter someone along those routes,” Guthrie said.

People who live in homes built after Florida strengthened its laws in 2004, who don’t depend on continuous electricity and who aren’t in evacuation zones should probably avoid the roads, he said.

All classes and school activities in St. Petersburg’s Pinellas County were preemptively closed Monday through Wednesday as Milton approached, and officials in Tampa opened all city garages for free for residents hoping to protect their vehicles from floodwaters, including electric cars.

Up to 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews remove tons of debris left behind by Helen, DeSantis said, and he directed that Florida crews sent to North Carolina in Helen’s wake return to the state to prepare for Milton.

The governor said Florida Emergency Management is setting up a base camp at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball, to support debris removal operations before Milton arrives.

“All available state assets are being marshaled … to assist in debris removal,” DeSantis said. “We go 24-7.”
On Saturday, air search and rescue teams found 39 more storm survivors who were still stranded in western North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said.

So far, nearly 6,600 people have been rescued, evacuated or assisted by search and rescue teams since the storm struck, the office said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deane Criswell defended her agency’s response to hurricane devastation after false Republican claims, amplified by former President Donald Trump, created a wave of misinformation across devastated communities.

“This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people, and it’s really shameful that we put politics before helping people,” Cresswell told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, adding that it has created fear and mistrust among residents against thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers in the states. United. Land across the southeast.

Creswell said the agency is already preparing for Milton.

“We’re working with the state there to understand what their requirements are, so we can put those requirements in place before they make landfall,” she said.

Federal aid to disaster survivors has exceeded $137 million since Hurricane Helen struck more than a week ago, one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and resources in modern history, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday.

About 1,500 active duty troops, more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and nearly 7,000 federal workers were deployed to ship more than 14.9 million meals, 13.9 million liters of water, 157 generators, and 505,000 pieces of cloth, along with approval for… More than $30 million for housing and assistance. Other types of assistance to more than 27,000 families, according to FEMA, the White House and the Department of Defense.

More than 800 people unable to return home are staying in housing provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and 22 shelters are still housing nearly 1,000 people as mobile feeding operations continue to assist survivors. The response to the Helen disaster will not stop during Milton and beyond, because FEMA has the capacity to address multiple disasters at once, the agency said.

“My administration is sparing no resources to support families as they begin their path to rebuilding,” Biden said. “We will continue to work alongside local and state leaders – regardless of political party and however long it takes.”

The hurricane center said Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the northwestern Bahamas should monitor the system’s progress.

Heavy rain is expected Sunday ahead of the storm itself, and will then likely combine with rain in Milton to flood waterways and streets in Florida, where forecasters said up to a foot (30 cm) of rain could fall in some places. Until Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, in the open Atlantic, Hurricane Kirk weakened to a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday, with winds of 165 kilometers per hour, bringing large waves and “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” to Bermuda and north along the coast of United States and Canada. The center said.

Hurricane Leslie was also moving over the Atlantic Ocean, away from land, with winds of 140 kilometers per hour.