The Florida West Coast Is Going to Hell: Hurricane Milton and its Predictions for the upcoming Wednesday Night Outburst of SarasOTA

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene ravaged the area, the storm surge from a direct hit from Milton is predicted to be as high as 15 feet. The last major storm to hit the area was in 1921.

There are storm surge warnings in effect 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. Hurricane warnings also are in effect for the state’s east coast from the St. Lucie-Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach.

The schools 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 within them that you can go to. Maybe it’s a friend’s house, maybe it’s a hotel, maybe it’s a shelter.”

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene tore through the American Southeast, hospitals and health care providers in Florida are preparing for yet another destructive storm as Hurricane Milton hurtles toward the state’s west coast.

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.

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

SARASOTA, Fla. — As Hurricane Milton drew nearer to Florida, the skies over downtown were becoming gray and ominous.

A 90-year-old woman was at the last minute deciding at a gas station if she wanted to head further inland, north or south away from Milton.

Irving LaLonde, said he has a house right by the bay. “It has been nice all this time,” he said of the weather. “And then I turned on the television this morning, and oh my God, they said, ‘Get out of Englewood.’ ” And he took off, still unsure of which direction to go.

Many Floridans taking shelter in hotels or evacuee centers during the bad weather remained positive and optimistic despite the real threat to their homes, belongings and livelihoods. They were comfortable and chatted with other evacuees, played card games, and drank wine and beer as they prepared to ride out the storm.

When Alan Staniforth and his family evacuated from their home in the Longboat Key area on Tuesday, he said life is more important than possessions and that they can always rebuild.

The Staniforth family tried to put belongings on higher ground before fleeing. He told NPR he’s resigned to his belief that his home, renovated just four years ago, won’t be livable after Milton hits.

“We’ll probably spend the next six to 12 months rebuilding,” he said. “It’s going to be a long road to recovery here for everybody, not just us. The risk of living down closer to the ocean in Florida is something you take. It’s a good lifestyle, but it comes with risk.

Disaster Preparedness for the Florida Keystone Stochastic Asteroseismology Project, Part II: The Nature of Hurricane Milton and Related Disasters

“I guess a lot of people are forward-thinking about what happens afterwards, and obviously we don’t know what’s going to happen, but you got to assume the worst and hope for the best,” Staniforth said. “But be pragmatic about it, and not freak out. Being crazy is not going to help anyone, and so we are in this situation.

Member stations across the NPR Network in Florida are covering the local impact of Hurricane Milton. For those that might lose power or cell service, note the frequency of your local station for your emergency radio needs.

Her opinion is that the dunes might prevent the flooding from storm surge. “If they are not high enough to prevent the flooding, these systems can dissipate at least the waves, and protect the ecosystems and infrastructure behind them.”

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.

Flooding and winds caused thousands of homes to be damaged. There are at least 12 deaths in Pinellas County because of the storm.

Efforts to remove debris from barrier islands in Pinellas County will go on until it is safe to do so, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.

A Study of Flooding in Pinellas, Florida, the State’s Most Densely populated County, Fla., and the Tampa Bay Area

There can be areas of water flow convergence with the help of roads and buildings. The roads are not very resistant, and storm surge could be able to come inland more easily.

She explained that the wind pushes the water against the land. “The land acts as a barrier to the water flow, and consequently the water accumulates in the coast.”

The shape of the bay, as well as the intensity of the storm, can affect the intensity of the surge.

“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 prone to flooding. Sea levels are rising. Since 1946, water levels in Tampa Bay have increased 7.8 inches and the region could experience sea levels rise another 2 to 8.5 feet by 2100, according to a 2019 analysis by the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel.

In the state’s most densely populated county, Pinellas, the metropolitan areas of St. Petersburg and Clearwater are grouped together with the bay area. Barrier islands line its Gulf coast.

The HCA Florida Healthcare Network Says it’s Closed or Suspending During a Category 5 Tropical Storm and Is It Ready to Open?

HCA Florida Healthcare, a network of hospitals and physician practices that operates across the state, said Tuesday afternoon that it is temporarily closing or suspending services at several hospitals and emergency rooms. The hospitals will be temporarily closed and reopen when it is safe to do so after the storm, the health care system said in a statement.

Hospitals that remain open have implemented plan for disaster, relocated electrical equipment away from flood areas, and stocked supplies that may be needed in an emergency.

The hospital can provide a power supply in the event of power loss because it has an on-site central energy plant that is 33 feet above sea level. The energy plant was built to protect it from flooding during a Category 5 storm. The hospital has enough food and supplies to last more than five days.