More than 30 thousand people are protected this Wednesday (9) in the 149 shelters set up in Florida, USA, in the face of the imminent arrival of Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall tonight on the central-west coast of that state and where they have already been tornadoes and tropical storm force winds were recorded.
In a press conference, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, from the Republican Party, declared this Wednesday that the shelters open in the state have the capacity to protect more than 200 thousand people and, once again, asked residents of mandatory evacuation zones to leave urgently.
“There is a strong chance that this hurricane will have a major impact and cause major damage,” warned DeSantis, in addition to saying that the best option for threatened communities is “to go to a local shelter, where there is still plenty of space, rather than hit the road.”
This Wednesday, American President Joe Biden also asked the population of Florida to seek shelter.
“It’s literally a matter of life and death,” he added.
Biden said that over the past week, his team has “done everything possible” to be prepared for when Milton plays solo.
The departure of people from the region began this week, with images of thousands of vehicles leaving Tampa and causing traffic jams on the state’s highways, which has stopped charging tolls to ease traffic out of danger zones, where coastal waters are expected to rise. up to four meters.
Early this afternoon, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported the first tropical storm force winds arriving inland off Florida’s west coast and warned of the danger of tornadoes.
TV networks such as NBC News showed images of large tornadoes moving through central and south Florida.
There is still space in the shelters
Authorities in three of the most exposed counties on Florida’s west coast, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco, said there is still space available in shelters, although some are already full, and that residents in evacuation zones should not delay leaving any longer. of their homes.
About 7.3 million people in the state live in 15 counties where the evacuation order is mandatory, but not everyone is able to leave, such as hospital patients and prisoners.
Furthermore, according to the specialized portal PowerOutages, around 24 thousand homes and offices in Lee, Manatee and Hillsborough counties, the last of which is home to the populous Tampa, are already without power.
Rising tides, a top concern for experts, have already begun to be felt along Florida’s Gulf Coast as Milton’s strong winds push ocean water onto land.
Authorities are also concerned about the strength of urban structures that were affected by the recent Hurricane Helene, which could collapse under Milton’s impact.
The powerful hurricane also generated torrential rain and thunderstorms as its outer bands approached Florida’s west coast.
The size of the “extremely dangerous and catastrophic” hurricane, as the NHC calls Milton, has doubled since Tuesday and its winds extend to about 250 miles (402 kilometers) from its core, especially on the north side.
According to the forecast, Milton’s nucleus will move this Wednesday along the eastern Gulf of Mexico and “reach the west-central coast of Florida at night”, then cross the peninsula and enter the Atlantic, the NHC reported. in your last bulletin.
The United States Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned on Wednesday that Hurricane Milton will be “catastrophic and deadly” and urged people to use these last few hours to leave the region and, for those who were unable to do so, to “seek safe havens immediately”