Multiple Florida counties have issued evacuation orders as Hurricane Milton bears down on the Sunshine State less than two weeks after it was battered by Hurricane Helene.
Milton is set to make landfall in the Tampa Bay region by Wednesday and move across Florida before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean. The storm quickly strengthened from Category 4 to Category 5—the most powerful hurricane status—in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.
While the storm will likely weaken somewhat before hitting Florida, forecasters say there is a chance that Milton could maintain its strength while it makes its way toward the state. Helene struck Florida’s “Big Bend” region as a Category 4 late last month.
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in the Florida counties of Charlotte, Citrus, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Volusia as of Monday evening.
An additional mandatory evacuation order is set to go into effect in Hernando County at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Voluntary evacuations are in place in the counties of Glades, Sarasota and Okeechobee.
The following map created by Newsweek shows the Florida counties that have issued evacuation orders due to Milton at the time of publication:
Updated information on evacuation orders can be found by visiting the following page on Florida’s emergency management website: floridadisaster.org/evacuation-orders.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida due to Hurricane Milton on Monday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to allocate disaster relief funds and assist with storm response.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said on Monday she would be traveling to Florida to help coordinate the federal emergency response before returning to North Carolina, one of several states where recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene continue.
Newsweek reached out for comment to FEMA via email on Monday evening.
A FEMA press release urged those in the path of Milton to “protect themselves and take care of others because time is running out to prepare for the hurricane’s potentially deadly impacts.”
“Be in the know about your evacuation route,” the release states. “Act now by learning your evacuation routes and identify where you will stay. If you are told to evacuate, do so immediately because your life may be at risk.”
Some gas stations in Tampa and Fort Myers had run out of fuel by Monday morning in anticipation of the hurricane, according to the Associated Press (AP). Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has reportedly said that additional fuel is headed to the affected areas.
Forecasters have predicted extremely dangerous storm surges of up to 12 feet in the Tampa Bay area, which would be significantly larger than the surges triggered by Helene.
Several airports, including Tampa International Airport, have announced plans to temporarily shut down on Tuesday in anticipation of Milton’s landfall.
Hurricane Helene killed at least 230 people and delivered major damage to property and infrastructure in an area stretching from Florida to North Carolina, per the AP.
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