Milton was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, October 7, the US hurricane monitoring agency (NHC) reported, warning of deadly risks in Mexico and Florida. Rated as“extremely dangerous”The hurricane is expected to bring violent winds to the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday and hit the coast of Florida in the southeastern United States. “starting Tuesday night or Wednesday”according to the NHC.
The hurricane moved to category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the NHC announced on Monday, with winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour. Given the threat posed by Milton, the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, on Sunday extended the state of emergency declared the day before to several localities: 51 of 67 counties are now affected.
This new hurricane is causing a lot of concern in Florida and the rest of the American Southeast, much of which has been affected since the devastating passage of Helene. Authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Pasco County and Anna Maria Island near Tampa starting Monday, while a handful of other localities asked residents of certain types of buildings, such as long-term care facilities, to , that they evacuate.
Emergency services continue to work hard to help the many victims of Hurricane Helene, the deadliest to hit the United States since Katrina in 2005. Helene, which reached Category 4, killed at least 229 people in half a dozen states . in the southeast of the country, including at least fourteen in Florida, and caused destructive flooding.
By warming sea and ocean waters, climate change makes rapid intensification of storms more likely and increases the risk of more powerful hurricanes, scientists say. The American Meteorological Observatory (NOAA) warned at the end of May that the hurricane season, which runs from early June to the end of November, was shaping up to be an extraordinary year, with the possibility of between four and seven category 3 or 3. more hurricanes.
Flood of misinformation
US President Joe Biden called on Sunday “All Florida residents should listen to local officials and prepare accordingly”. He also announced in a press release the deployment of 500 additional soldiers to North Carolina, the state most affected by Hurricane Helen (at least 118 dead). In total, 1,500 soldiers are mobilized and form, in addition to the thousands of rescuers and members of the national guard, a reserve force.
This new threat comes as U.S. officials struggle to counter an avalanche of misinformation about aid provided to disaster victims. On Saturday, Donald Trump repeated false accusations that the Biden-Harris administration had redirected relief funds intended for regions devastated by Hurricane Helen to migrant programs.
“The last thing Hélène’s victims need right now is political posturing, an accusatory glare or conspiracy theories that only harm relief efforts.”North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, said in a statement on Sunday.
The problem is such that the federal disaster response agency (FEMA) and North Carolina authorities published a message on the Internet dismantling false claims, such as that homes that requested federal aid after the disaster could be expropriated.
