Florida prepares to evacuate millions of people ahead of another hurricane

By Arek Sarkissian | 10/07/2024 06:12 AM EDT

The state is still recovering from Helene, which made landfall less than two weeks ago.

Joe Biden (center) and Rick Scott (right) look on as John Louk (left) points to a map of Florida.

President Joe Biden (center) receives an operational briefing from John Louk (left), director of emergency management in Taylor County, on the damage from Hurricane Helene in Keaton Beach, Florida, on Thursday, as Sen. Rick Scott (right) looks on. Susan Walsh/AP

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida is facing the threat of another major hurricane making landfall in the state, prompting state emergency officials to prepare for the evacuation of potentially more than 6 million residents as the state still recovers from its last direct hit.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday told reporters at the Florida Emergency Operations Center the state is now racing to clean up debris left by Hurricane Helene, which hit the state just 10 days ago. Tropical Storm Milton is expected to make landfall somewhere along the state’s western coast by midweek as a hurricane, the National Weather Service forecasted, bringing the threat of deadly coastal flooding, high winds, and torrential rainfall.

Milton is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before landfall, and the storm could bring coastal flooding that may leave Tampa Bay under 10 feet of water. Milton has the potential of pushing even more Gulf water onto the coast than Helene, which hit a rural stretch of the state’s Big Bend region in the north. Despite Helene making landfall hundreds of miles away, communities along the gulf coast on Florida’s peninsula were wrecked by significant flooding.

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Milton’s flooding, however, will directly hit a much more heavily-populated part of the state as the storm moves east along Interstate 4 toward the Atlantic Ocean.

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