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Florida is preparing for its largest evacuation since 2017 as Hurricane Milton, now a powerful Category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico, heads for the southeastern U.S. state. The storm's pending arrival follows the recent devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene.
At last report, Milton was about 1,130 kilometers (702 miles) southwest of Tampa, with winds of 280 kilometers per hour (174 mph). The storm was moving at 15 kilometers per hour (9 mph).
"I just approved an emergency declaration from the State of Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement response efforts that may arise due to emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Milton," U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. "We expect this storm to again make landfall in western Florida and are working quickly to preposition federal response personnel and assets."
The Miami-based hurricane center said Milton, which strengthened from a tropical storm on Sunday, was projected to make landfall on Wednesday morning, most likely near the heavily populated Tampa Bay area, with a dangerous storm surge. The center urged residents to heed the advice of local officials.
"This is the real deal here with Milton," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned Monday. "If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time."
Milton has the potential to affect areas already hit hard by Helene, which made landfall further north on the coast on Sept. 26.
Several Florida counties have already received mandatory evacuation orders and more orders are expected.
Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida Division of Emergency Management, warned Monday that evacuation shelters are likely to become full quickly, but additional shelters are being identified.
"If they've called your evacuation zone, I beg you, I implore you, to evacuate," he said Monday. "I would highly recommend anybody who's got the means to do so ... get on the road today, wherever that may be."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared 51 of the state's 67 counties under a state of emergency, predicting Milton could have "major, major impacts," with storm surges of up to 6 meters (20 feet).
"If you are somebody that is in a very vulnerable part of the west coast of Florida that would be susceptible to storm surge, you certainly can leave now. You don't have to wait to get an evacuation order," DeSantis told reporters Sunday evening.
About 7 million people were urged in 2017 to evacuate Florida during Hurricane Irma.
The exodus jammed freeways and led to hours-long lines at gas stations.
It also left evacuees frustrated and, in some cases, vowing never to evacuate again.
Building on lessons learned from previous storms, Florida is staging emergency fuel and charging stations for electric vehicles along evacuation routes.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.