As per the National Hurricane Center, despite the storm weakening, Milton continues to classify as Category Five as it barrels across the Gulf Coast and towards Florida.
As the United States continues to reel in from Hurricane Helene, coastal US states such as Florida is now once again preparing for Hurricane Milton. Hurricane Milton, which will be the second major storm to hit the United States in weeks, has currently been classified as a Category Five storm.
As per the National Hurricane Center, despite the storm weakening, Milton continues to classify as Category Five as it barrels towards the Gulf Coast and Florida.
President Joe Biden also dialled Governor Ron DeSantis to overview the preparations for Milton, which has triggered the largest evacuation since 2017, and to review the recovery from Hurricane Helene which hit the US last week.
As per the latest advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center, a storm surge warning has been placed into effect for the West Coast of Florida - which includes Charlotte Harbour and Tampa Bay. A storm surge warning is also in place for Sebastian Inlet all the way to Edisto Beach.
As per NHC, a storm surge warning means that "there is a danger of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, during the next 36 hours in the indicated locations".
Apart from a storm surge, Hurricane Milton is also expected to produce rainfall between five to 12 inches, with localised totals up to 18 inches in the central and northern regions of the Florida peninsula.
Across the Florida Keys, Milton is expected to produce rainfall from two to four inches.
As per the latest warning from the NHC, Hurrricane Milton is expected to make its landfall in Florida this week, likely by Wednesday night.
"Extremely powerful Hurricane #Milton is just north of the Yucatan Peninsula. Forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane when it reaches Florida Wednesday night. This is a very serious threat and residents in Florida are urged to listen to local officials," reads the latest warning from NHC.
As per the detailed warning, Hurricane Milton is expected to grow in size as it moves towards Florida. With this, the NHC has called for all preparations to be in place urgently by Tuesday.