Severe Weather

Florida Braces for Direct Hit as Hurricane Milton Weakens Slightly to Category 4

Author: Editors Desk, Victoria Albert, and Lynn Waddell Source: WSJ:

October 9, 2024 at 11:59

A day before Hurricane Milton was set to make landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast, a small yacht stranded during Hurricane Helene still sat dry tied to trees. Michael Adno for WSJ

Millions were urged to evacuate ahead of the storm, which is expected to strike as soon as Wednesday night.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Millions of people along Florida’s Gulf Coast are bracing for Hurricane Milton, a historically powerful storm that is expected to make landfall as soon as Wednesday evening and wallop a region still reeling from Hurricane Helene.

The Category 4 storm had maximum sustained winds of 145 miles an hour and was 190 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla., according to the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. ET update. Milton is expected to hit the west coast of Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday, battering it with hurricane-force winds, life-threatening storm surge and heavy rain.

Since rapidly strengthening on Monday, Milton’s intensity has wavered between a Category 4 and a Category 5. It is forecast to remain a hurricane as it crosses the Florida peninsula, the hurricane center said.

Milton will likely compound the damage from Helene, which left a path of death and destruction across several states after striking Florida as a Category 4 storm less than two weeks ago. Some areas are still littered with debris that could become projectiles once Milton arrives.

“There is high confidence that this hurricane is going to pack a major, major punch and do an awful lot of damage,” Florida Go