Hurricane Milton is forecasted to hit the west coast of the Florida Peninsula on Wednesday and douse North Central Florida with 4 to 6 inches of rainfall, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Milton was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane late Monday morning by the NHC with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. Showers and thunderstorms are forecasted for Wednesday and the risk of flash flooding is at 40%.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency in 51 of Florida’s 67 counties on Sunday when he issued Executive Order 24-215, including Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy, Suwannee and Union. Alachua County issued a local state of emergency on Sunday.
Milton is projected to make landfall in the Tampa area with storm surge estimated to be at 8 to 12 feet. According to Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie, the state is preparing for its largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma in 2017 when 7 million people were told to evacuate.
Milton will hit Florida just days after Hurricane Helene, also a Category 4 storm, ravaged the state with devastating winds on Sept. 26-27 and destroyed towns in the Florida Big Bend region. On Aug. 4-5, Hurricane Debby dumped rain on the area, causing flooding throughout North Central Florida.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with information on local state of emergency and from the NHC.
