09/10/2024 – 18:32
The US agency warns the hurricane will be “catastrophic and deadly” and urges residents to leave the area or seek safe places. “It is literally a matter of life or death,” said President Joe Biden. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) warned this Wednesday (10/09) that Hurricane Milton, which is expected to hitting the west coast of Florida between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, will be “catastrophic and deadly”, and asked that people use these last hours to leave the area and, for those who cannot, “seek refuge safe immediately.”
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a tornado warning for parts of South Florida, while again urging people exposed to Hurricane Milton, especially on the West Coast, to evacuate. from their homes if local authorities require it.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, asked the people of Florida this Wednesday to protect themselves from the imminent arrival of the hurricane. “It’s literally a matter of life and death,” he said.
Biden said that over the past week, his team has “done everything possible” to prepare for Milton’s arrival.
The expectation of American authorities is that the hurricane could become the “most devastating in 100 years”.
In a bulletin, the NHC reported that several tornadoes have begun to develop in parts of the southern Florida peninsula as the “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Milton, category 4 (out of a maximum of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, approaches on the west coast of the state.
The system has maximum sustained winds of 230 km/h and is moving northeast at a translational speed of 28 km/h.
According to the forecast, Milton’s core will move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico today and “make landfall on the west-central coast of Florida on Wednesday night,” a large region under a hurricane warning, and then cross the peninsula. and will move towards the Atlantic.
“Extremely dangerous hurricane”
Forecasters expect Milton to remain an “extremely dangerous hurricane” when it makes landfall on the west-central Florida coast Wednesday night and to maintain hurricane strength as it moves across the Florida peninsula through Thursday.
Milton is forecast to “gradually weaken” as it moves east over the western Atlantic, and is likely to become an extratropical storm early Friday.
A major concern is the storm surge Milton could cause in Tampa Bay, ranging from 10 to 15 feet high. Tropical storm force winds could hit the Tampa Bay region as early as Wednesday morning.
Devastating winds are also expected along parts of Florida’s west coast, where a hurricane warning is in effect. The forecast from NHC meteorologists is that Milton “will continue to be a hurricane as it crosses the Florida peninsula”.
The heavy rains that Milton will dump on the Florida peninsula through Thursday will pose a “risk of catastrophic urban flooding,” especially in regions where coastal and land flooding combine.
The system’s arrival will occur less than two weeks after the passage of another hurricane, Helene, which left a trail of more than 800 kilometers of devastation in the southeastern states, with particular intensity in North Carolina, after entering northwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26. With more than 230 deaths, this was the deadliest US hurricane since Katrina in 2005.
Misinformation
Biden praised the work done by the affected states to minimize their impact, but also criticized, without naming names, the doubts raised mainly by former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump (2017-2021) about the use of Fema resources.
“Over the past few weeks, there has been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that upset people. This is undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work,” lamented Biden, noting that he was even said to be controlling the weather and sending these storms to states under Republican control.
The president received the latest information on the situation in a virtual meeting with the main agencies involved, which was also attended by the vice president and Democratic candidate for the November 5 elections, Kamala Harris.
“Kamala and I continue to pressure companies to keep the prices of gasoline, flights and the products people need stable. We are working with local and state officials to support affected communities,” Biden said.
md (EFE, AFP, ots)
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