Hurricane Milton updates: Joe Biden tells Florida to flee Hurricane Milton

US President Joe Biden has begged Florida residents to flee Hurricane Milton, warning it could turn into the worst natural disaster in a century. See photos, video.

US President Joe Biden has begged Florida residents to flee Hurricane Milton, warning that the Category 5 storm could turn into the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century.

As the second huge hurricane in as many weeks rumbled toward Florida’s west coast, people raced to board up homes and flee.

“It’s a matter of life and death, and that’s not hyperbole,” Biden said from the White House on Tuesday, urging those under orders to leave to “evacuate now, now, now.”

Milton returned to the maximum Category 5 designation, generating maximum sustained winds of 270 km/h, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

“Fluctuations in intensity are likely while Milton moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but Milton is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida Wednesday night,” the NHC said.

The centre of Hurricane Milton was located. Picture: NOAA

Climate scientists are arguing monster it could be ushering in a new era of unprecedented Category 6 storms with a need for a whole new level to the long-held hurricane and cyclone severity rating system.

Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania Michael Mann has been arguing for years there is a need for a new Category 6 designation.

Now with Hurricane Milton reaching almost unprecedented ferocity, it seems his worst nightmare is coming true. It is the third fastest-intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the US National Weather Service.

“A compelling argument has been made that a hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 192mph (309km/h) or greater should be considered “category 6”,” Prof Mann wrote on X.

“Stay tuned.”

A compelling argument has been made that a hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 192mph or greater should be considered "category 6". See my @PNASNews piece: https://t.co/iPdbkCZROt#HurricaneMilton, with 180mph sustained winds, is getting close. https://t.co/iPdbkCZROthttps://t.co/NVSgcdH0eq

— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) October 7, 2024

Prof Mann wrote a piece a haunting prediction about just such a superstorm in the February edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“For a number of years, I have argued that we are now, thanks to the effects of human-caused warming, experiencing a new class of monster storms — ‘category 6’ hurricanes,” Prof Mann wrote.

“That is to say, we are witnessing hurricanes that — by any logical extension of the existing Saffir-Simpson scale — deserve to be placed in a whole separate, more destructive category from the traditionally defined (category 5) ‘strongest’ storms.”

It comes as Floridians make the excruciating choice whether to buckle down or run for their lives as governor Ron DeSantis warns “time is running out”.

Thousands evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton. Picture: Getty Images.

Others are choosing to sit tight despite the dire warnings. Picture: AFP.

Residents fill are desperately preparing in Tampa. Picture: AFP.

“You have time today. Time is running out,” Gov DeSantis said.

“But you do have time today to heed any evacuation orders and do what you need to do to protect yourself and our families.”

His comments were echoed by Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert said whose city is in the firing line.

“What everyone has been saying is, you have to evacuate, it is not survivable, to survive a 10- to 15-foot storm surge,” Mayor Alpert told NBC News.

“It just simply isn’t.”

Tampa Bay mayor Jane Castor did not mince words when speaking to her constituents.

“If you choose to stay … you are going to die,” Mayor Castor said.

Tampa Bay will cop the brunt of Hurricane Milton which has grown to a “life-threatening” Category 5 storm, placing hundreds of thousands of residents still recovering from Hurricane Helene at risk.

Now, they are bracing for the worst storm the city has faced in years – perhaps a century.

Milton is projected to make landfall Wednesday, local time, as a maximum strength category hurricane, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

Storm surge and hurricane watches were issued for Florida’s Gulf Coast as Milton strengthened into a Category 4 storm, and then rapidly grew again into a Category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 257km/h.

Forecasters are warning of a possible 3.6 metre storm surge.

“And Helene was a wakeup call, this is literally catastrophic. This is the real deal here with Milton,” Mayor Castor said.

The pinhole eye of Hurricane Milton can be seen over the Gulf of Mexico. Picture: AFP

“And I can say without any dramatisation whatsoever if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die.”

“If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 per cent of the time.”

Florida meteorologist John Morales was in tears while broadcasting on Hurricane Milton’s upgrades, giving updates on the storm’s bump to a Category 5 to NBC affiliate WTVJ when he struggled to hold back his emotion, saying: “Incredible, incredible hurricane. It has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours. I apologise, this is just horrific.”

Morales went off camera as he teared up.

“The seas are just so incredibly incredibly hot,” he said.

@nbcbayarea

@nbcsouthflorida Hurricane Specialist John Morales realized that Milton had become a Category 5 monster storm just before he went on air. He paused for a moment, visibly emotional, and his voice shook as he expressed his disbelief. #hurricane#milton

♬ original sound - NBC Bay Area - NBC Bay Area

“Record hot as you might imagine. You know what’s driving that, I don’t need to tell you. Global warming, climate change leading to this and becoming an increasing threat.”

Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida’s emergency management division, urged residents to be prepared for the “largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma.”

“I highly encourage you to evacuate,” Guthrie said during a press conference.

Shelves in a local grocery store have been cleared out of bottled water ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected midweek landfall in Kissimmee, Florida. Picture: AFP

Residents walk along the pier damaged by Hurricane Milton on the coast of Puerto Progeso, Yucatan State, Mexico. Picture: AFP

The 1 to 5 rating is based on a hurricane’s sustained wind speed. This scale estimates potential property damage and loss of life. Hurricanes reaching Category 3 and higher are considered major hurricanes.

Empty counters of different commercial airlines are seen at the Merida Manuel Crecencio Rejan airport after being closed before the arrival of Hurricane Milton. Picture: AFP

Mr Biden was briefed on Milton and said in a statement that his administration was readying “lifesaving resources.”

He also ordered an additional 500 active-duty troops sent to North Carolina to help with Helene response and recovery, joining 1000 other troops, 6000 national guards and 7000 federal personnel already on the ground.

Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said on ABC that federal authorities were “absolutely ready” for Milton.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis upped the number of counties under a state of emergency to 51 ahead of the storm, predicting Milton could have “major, major impacts,” with storm surges of up to six metres.

Florida’s west coast is still digging out from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, which roared onshore as a Category 4 storm on September 26, causing widespread devastation.