Keep calm and be prepared for the storm
Florida High-Redshift Hospitals are Running Out of Time to Prepare for the Next Tropical Hurricane, Which is Coming to an End Late Wednesday Night
Milton is expected to make landfall on the western coast of Florida late Wednesday. But NHC forecasters also warn that weather conditions in Florida will start to deteriorate much earlier on Wednesday.
Storm surge warnings are in effect for Florida’s west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. There are warnings for a north shore area that includes the Suwannee River. Hurricane warnings are in effect for the state’s east coast, from the St. Lauderdale-Martin County Line to Ponte Vedra Beach.
The area’s schools and government facilities would be closed for several days. There are mandatory areas that counties enforce, and officials warn residents to follow those orders.
“You don’t have to leave your homes hundreds of miles away,” the governor said. You can go to any of the places within the county. Maybe it’s a friend’s house, maybe it’s a hotel, maybe it’s a shelter.”
Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, told WIRED that they were worried about the magnitude of the storm. The organization represents the state’s more than 300 hospitals. In Florida, which gets hit with more storms than any other US state, hospitals have closed in the past because of weather disasters, but Mayhew says what is unusual this time is the high number of health care facilities that have evacuated ahead of Milton.
People in Florida are running out of time to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall along the state’s western coastline, now expected as early as Wednesday night.
“Wherever the eye of the storm is, there’s going to be impacts beyond that,” he said Tuesday. “You should be executing your plan now. If you’re going to get out, get out now. You have a lot of time today. If you wait any longer, time will be running out very soon.
It’s in the state of Florida. The skies over downtown Sarasota grew gray and scary as the storm moved closer to the western coast of Florida.
A 90-year-old woman in Florida’s Englewood area was at a gas station at the last moment deciding whether to head inland, north or south.
He said that he has a house by the bay. “It has been nice all this time,” he said of the weather. I turned on the television this morning and saw a message that said, “Get out of Englewood.” And he took off, still unsure of which direction to go.
In spite of the very real threat to their homes, belongings and livelihoods, many Floridians taking shelter in hotels or evacuation centers in Sarasota remained in good spirits amid the bad weather. They got comfortable, chatted with other evacuees, played card games, drank wine and beer and prepared to ride out the worst of the storm with friends, families and pets.
“Obviously life is more important than possessions, so you can always rebuild and recreate what you had,” said Alan Staniforth, a sailing instructor, who evacuated to the Westin Sarasota on Tuesday with his family from his Longboat Key home.
The Staniforth family hid their possessions in higher ground before fleeing. He told NPR that he was resigned to the fact that his renovated home wouldn’t work after he gets hit by Milton.
“We’ll probably spend the next six to 12 months rebuilding,” he said. It will be a long road to recovery for everybody, not just us. I guess that’s a risk you take when living close to the ocean in Florida. It’s a great lifestyle, but it comes with risks.
State of the State of Florida During a Hurricane Irregularity, and What You Can Do about It: An NPR Network Analysis of Hurricane Milton
Staniforth believes that a lot of people are not sure what will happen, but they should expect the worst. Don’t freak out about it and be pragmatic about it. Freaking out is not going to help anybody, and so that’s kind of where we are right now.”
Member stations across the NPR Network in Florida are covering the local impact of Hurricane Milton. It’s a good idea to note the frequencies of the local station for emergency radio needs if there’s power or cell service lost.
“If the dunes are high enough, they might prevent the flooding from storm surge,” she says. If the systems aren’t high enough to prevent flooding, it can be difficult for them to resist waves.
Low-lying land — coupled with the shallow waters and wide, sloping continental shelf off the west coast — could lead to dangerous flooding from storm surges, hurricane researchers in Florida tell NPR.
Several thousand homes were damaged by floods and winds, according to a member station. At least 12 people near Tampa in Pinellas County died because of Helene.
More than 1,200 truckloads of debris have been removed from barrier islands, and Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that efforts would continue until it is no longer safe.
The flood-prone areas of Pinellas, Florida, are prone to floods anytime before they become too big or too small: The effects of storms like Helene and Milton
“Roads and buildings can funnel the flow, creating areas of water flow convergence,” she says. The roads allow storm surge to come inland, even if there is little resistance to the flow.
The wind pushes the water against the land lining a bay, she explains. The land stops the water from flowing and consequently the water accumulates in the coast.
The shape of the bay, the intensity and track of the storm, and how much water is in it all affect how intense the surge will be.
“The wide continental shelf with shallow water allows storms like Helene and Milton to create very large storm surges,” Thomas Wahl, an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Central Florida who studies flood-prone areas, tells NPR.
Much of the region is at low elevation and naturally prone to flooding. It’s made worse by rising sea levels. According to an analysis done by the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel, the area’s water levels have increased 7.8 inches since 1946, and sea levels could rise as much as 8.5 feet by the year 2200.
Tampa Bay is surrounded by the metropolitan areas of Tampa, as well as Clearwater and St. Petersburg — in the state’s most densely populated county, Pinellas. There are barrier islands on the Gulf coast.
Ambulance and Emergency Response Operations in Florida During a Category 5 Flooding Event on Tuesday, April 12th, 2010. Evacuations and Power Plant Supplies
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 200 health care facilities in impacted areas were reporting evacuations, including over 100 assisted living facilities and 10 hospitals. In preparation for the storm, the Florida Department of Health has deployed more than 600 ambulances and other emergency response vehicles and has set up 11 special-needs shelters for people with disabilities.
Hospitals that stay open have put in place flood-mitigation plans and moved their equipment to away from flood areas.
A power plant located at 33 feet above sea level is used for power in the event of power disruption at the hospital, which is located at sea level. The energy plant was built to survive the impact and flooding of a Category 5 storm. The hospital says it has more than five days of supplies, including food and linens, on-site.
