Monster hurricane Milton threatens an already battered Florida

8/10/2024 12:40

        The Category 5 Hurricane Milton was expected to grow larger on Tuesday as it threatened Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on its way to Florida, where more than a million people were ordered to evacuate from its path.
        
        The densely populated west coast of Florida, still reeling from the devastating Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago, braced for landfall on Wednesday.
        The U.S. National Hurricane Center projected the storm was likely to hit near the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people and where some evacuees rushed to dispose of mounds of debris left behind by Helene on their way out of town.
        
        With maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour (270 kph), Milton was categorized as the strongest level storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.
        Wind speeds could decrease to 145 mph (233 kph) by the time it approaches Florida, according to the hurricane center. That would still be a Category 4 storm, meaning catastrophic damage will occur, including power outages expected to last days.