Hurricane Milton has been downgraded to Category 4 on its path to Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Milton had maximum sustained winds of around 155 mph and was located 65 miles north-northeast of Progreso, Mexico. The storm was moving east at 9 mph and was about 585 miles southwest of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center said in the 2 a.m. bulletin.
Storm surge and hurricane warnings were issued for Florida’s Gulf Coast, while a tropical storm warning was issued for the Florida Keys.
On Monday afternoon, the NHC said the storm had “explosively” intensified into a “potentially catastrophic” Category 5, before being downgraded to Category 4.
The storm could weaken back to Category 3 before it makes landfall Wednesday on the west coast of Florida, NBC News forecasters said.
By key measures, Milton is shaping up to be one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, and it has done so in an astonishingly short amount of time, evolving from Tropical Depression 14 to a Category 5 hurricane in less than three days, according to NBC News.
Tampa Bay has not been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921, and authorities fear luck is about to run out for the region and its 3.3 million residents. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were mobilized to help in one of the largest mobilizations of federal personnel in history, The Associated Press reported.
“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told a Monday news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that an around-the-clock operation to clear debris and fallen trees from Helene was underway ahead of Milton’s arrival to minimize the threat from flying objects. He said Milton is expected to make landfall in Hillsborough or Pinellas County on Wednesday evening, and he pre-emptively issued emergency declarations for 51 counties.
Pinellas County, which occupies the Tampa Bay peninsula and its Atlantic-facing coast, has begun mandatory evacuations, according to a sheriff’s notice.
For a list of all Florida evacuation orders click here.
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