Milton’s Florida Panhandle: Warnings for a Very High-Energy Weather-Driven Wind and Flooding Event

Forecasters are warning that Milton will get bigger as it approaches Florida, widening the potential areas where communities could see dangerous winds and flooding.

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

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 leave hundreds of miles,” the governor has said. “Every county has places within them that you can go to. Maybe it’s a friend’s house, maybe it’s a hotel, maybe it’s a shelter.”

Air travel into and around Florida is already being disrupted by Milton. The Tampa International Airport said it was pausing flights beginning Tuesday morning. Travelers were advised to check their airlines’ flight travel dashboard as the FAA was close to monitoring the path of the storm.

Climate change may be causing storms to gain strength quicker, as three of them have done this year. It can be hard to evacuate communities when storms intensify rapidly.

Warmer ocean temperatures can lead to heavier rainfall and more severe flooding. Storms like Hurricane Helene suck up huge amounts of moisture as they move towards land, which then falls as rain, and can cause flooding far from the coast.

The Atlantic Ocean, where hurricanes that hit the U.S. form, and the Gulf of Mexico just off Florida, have been hotter than average for more than 18 months, driven both by climate change and the recent El Nino weather pattern.

In 2012, only two hurricanes hit the U.S., and both were Category 1 at landfall. Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in the East Coast, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.

People are running out of time to get out of the way of the storm, which could make a landfall as early as Wednesday night.

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