Tropical Storm Milton is expected to reach hurricane status late Sunday, or Monday morning, as it nears Florida’s west coast.
The storm that formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday comes as the southeast portion of the United States is still reeling from Hurricane Helene, which left immense devastation across several states, the Weather Channel reported Sunday.
The outlet continued:
The National Hurricane Center says that “there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Hurricane and storm surge watches will likely be required for portions of Florida on Sunday. Tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for portions of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
A meteorologist for First Coast News said the storm system called Milton “has escalated pretty quickly” and encouraged people in its path to begin preparing on Monday for its arrival.
He also noted that temperatures are in the mid to high eighties:
Per the Weather Channel, the system may approach Florida as a Category 3 + hurricane.
“We are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Milton, which has the potential to become a major hurricane. Current estimates forecast landfall sometime Wednesday afternoon —there is still time to prepare your homes, organize your disaster plan, and implement plans to keep yourself and your family safe,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) wrote in a social media post Sunday.
“We’ve mobilized state assets to supplement local governments in an unprecedented debris removal mission for areas that suffered damage from Hurricane Helene and are currently in the projected path of Milton. Local debris sites must be open 24/7, and we have hundreds of personnel on the ground assisting in removal,” he added:
Meanwhile, the death toll in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene rose to 227 on Saturday as cleanup efforts are underway, the Associated Press (AP) reported.