Florida evacuates ahead of Hurricane Milton as officials warn ‘you will die’

Hurricane Milton is threatening lives in one US state with more than a million fleeing their homes as the freak storm pushes the “mathematical limit”.

Thousands of people are fleeing Florida as freak Hurricane Milton threatens to smash “mathematical limits” of what is meteorologically possible.

“This is nothing short of astronomical,” Florida meteorologist Noah Bergren said late Monday as Milton reached sustained winds of 180 mph and “gusts 200+ mph.”

“I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe to you the storm’s small eye and intensity,” he marvelled.

8PM EDT: This is nothing short of astronomical. I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe you the storms small eye and intensity. 897mb pressure with 180 MPH max sustained winds and gusts 200+ MPH. This is now the 4th strongest hurricane ever recorded by pressure on… pic.twitter.com/QFdqFYFI7o

— Noah Bergren (@NbergWX) October 8, 2024

“This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.”

Hurricane Milton is expected to bring destruction to areas already reeling from Hurricane Helene’s devastation 12 days ago.

The Category 4 hurricane is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

More than a million people have been ordered to evacuate from its path - with a further six million put under hurricane-watch warning.

The storm will be the worst to impact the Tampa area in more than 100 years if it stays on the current track, according to the National Weather Service.

Evacuees are heading into bumper-to-bumper traffic as they flee Florida. Credit: Weather Channel

Mayor Jane Castor warned the city’s almost 400,000 residents to urgently evacuate.

She told CNN: “I can say this without any dramatisation whatsoever: if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die.

“This is something that I have never seen in my life and anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen this before.”

People fill sandbags in St Petersburg as the state prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Milton. Credit: Getty

Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the hurricane is already far stronger than predicted two days ago.

He said: “This is a ferocious hurricane.

“At the strength it is now, this is a really, really strong storm.

“The effects of that, not just from the storm surge but from wind damage and debris, will be really, really significant.

“This is not a storm you want to take a risk on.”

The Interstate 75 northbound was bumper to bumper and moving at just 7mph on Monday afternoon as terrified residents fled the state.

Authorities have opened up the left northbound shoulder of Interstate 75 from Tampa to Interstate 10 in north Florida, and along eastbound Interstate 4, to help motorists get away.

Almost the entirety of Florida’s west coast was under a hurricane warning early Tuesday as the Category 4 storm and its 155mph winds crept toward the state at 9mph.

Milton’s winds reached over 300km/h as it rapidly increased. Picture: NOAA

The strongest Atlantic hurricane on record is 1980s Allen, which reached wind speeds of 190mph as it moved through the Caribbean and Gulf before striking Texas and Mexico.

Forecasters warned of a possible 8-to-12-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay.

Milton’s centre could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century.

Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, though it could retain hurricane strength as it churns across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean.

That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains.

- With The Sun

Originally published as Florida evacuates ahead of Hurricane Milton as officials warn ‘you will die’