As it barrels toward Florida, Hurricane Milton poses an’extremely serious threat’

On the threat of a Category 4 hurricane in Florida, said NHC Chairman Ron DeSantis, Secretary of State and Transportation to the Florida Air Transportation Authority

By early Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Milton to a Category 4 storm, but officials at the agency warned of the storm’s power. “Milton poses an extremely serious threat to Florida and residents are urged to follow the order of local officials,” the NHC said.

There are storm surge warnings for Florida’s west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown. Hurricane warnings are in effect for Bonita Beach northward to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay. There are warnings in place for the east coast of the state.

Several school districts and government facilities in the area will be closed for several days. Counties have enforced mandatory evacuation zones, and state and local officials have profusely warned residents to follow those orders.

“You don’t have to evacuate hundreds of miles,” Gov. Ron DeSantis has said. Every county has places that you can go to. It might be a friend’s house, a hotel, or a shelter.

Air travel into and around Florida is already being disrupted by Milton. The airport said it was pausing flights because of bad weather. The Federal Aviation Administration said on X, formerly Twitter, that it was “closely monitoring” the path of the hurricane and advised travelers to check the agency’s flight travel dashboard and their airlines.

Climate change has not led to an increase in the total number of hurricanes hitting the U.S. each year. But the storms that do form are more likely to become more intense, with higher wind speeds, heavier rainfall, and more severe storm surge.

Warmer ocean temperatures can lead to heavier rainfall and more severe flooding. Flooding far from the coast can be caused by storms like Hurricane Helene, which bring enormous amounts of rain as they move towards land.

Climate change and the recently found El Nino weather pattern have driven the Atlantic Ocean to be hotter than average for the last 18 months.

There were two Category 1 hurricanes in 2012 that hit the U.S. Hurricane Sandy damaged tens of billions of dollars up and down the East Coast.

There is a chance that people in Florida won’t see Hurricane Milton until Wednesday night when the storm is expected to hit the western coastline.

“There’s going to be impacts far beyond wherever the eye of the storm is,” DeSantis said Tuesday. Now is the perfect time to execute your plan. If you’re going to get out, get out now. You have time today. If you wait any longer, time will be running out very soon.