Hurricane Milton Headed for Florida as Category 5: What You Should Know

Topline

Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico late Monday morning as it barreled toward Florida's Gulf Coast, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene killed at least 20 people in Florida before causing devastating flooding in parts of the Southeast the USA caused

Important facts

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Big number

15 million. That's how many people are under a flood watch in Florida, and 11 million are at risk of tropical tornadoes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Where have evacuations been ordered?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 35 counties on Saturday, including the entire Tampa Bay area, and a “flood” of evacuation orders would be issued over the next 24 hours on Sunday evening. According to the Associated Press, Milton could trigger the largest flood of evacuation orders in the state since Hurricane Irma in 2017, when seven million people were ordered to leave their homes. Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, ordered the evacuation of areas near Tampa Bay and all mobile and manufactured homes by Tuesday evening. Lee County, home to Fort Meyers, has issued a mandatory evacuation order for the island of Fort Myers Beach, and more orders could follow.

Is Hurricane Milton Impact

Tampa International Airport will close at 9 a.m. Tuesday and plans to reopen later this week “as soon as it is safe.” Major U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, Southwest, United and JetBlue, are issuing travel waivers that allow passengers flying through affected airports to rebook without paying large differentials. American Airlines' travel warning covers 12 airports in Florida, Delta's nine and Frontier's eight. United Airlines' advisory covers travel to and from just five airports: Key West, Orlando, Fort Myers, Sarasota/Bradenton and Tampa.

Could Hurricane Milton become a Category 6 hurricane?

There is no such thing as a Category 6 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center uses the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale to classify storms, which only rates up to Category 5 and defines such storms as having sustained winds of at least 157 miles per hour. Earlier this year, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Space Science and Engineering Center argued for the addition of a sixth category of storms as climate change continues to increase weather events. Under their proposal, Category 5 hurricanes would be redefined to include storms with sustained winds between 157 and 192 mph, and a new Category 6 would describe storms with winds above 192 mph.

Important background

Milton is expected to arrive less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene, a severe Category 4 storm, hit Florida on September 26. Helene was the hardest-hit hurricane in the Tampa Bay area in 103 years, according to the Associated Press. Although she remained offshore, Helene inundated parts of the area with storm surges several feet high. At least 20 people died in Florida from the storm, which then spread 500 miles across the southeastern United States, causing severe flooding in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee. At least 230 people in six states died as a result of the hurricane, which was the deadliest hurricane to hit the continental United States since Katrina in 2005. Helene made landfall near Perry, Florida, about 160 miles north of Tampa, with winds of 140 mph as it moved north and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Surprising fact

Milton will be the fifth hurricane to hit the US this year, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts 2024 will be one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record, with an estimated 8 to 13 hurricanes and between 4 and 7 major hurricanes.

Mary Whitfill Roeloffs contributed to this report.

Further reading

Hurricane Milton: Airlines issue warnings for Category 5 storm (Forbes)

Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to claim Democrats 'control the weather' after Hurricane Helene hits the Southeast (Forbes)

Trump's FEMA claim debunked: Agency isn't running out of money because of migrants (Forbes)

Trump and his allies claim Biden/Harris response to Hurricane Helene was inadequate (Forbes)