Hurricane Milton, described as ''extremely dangerous,'' is due to pass close to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Monday, before making landfall by Wednesday in Florida, already affected by the destructive passage of Hurricane Helene at the end of September.
On Monday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded Milton to the highest category on the scale, Category 5 (out of 5), stating that it had ‘intensified rapidly,’ moving from Category 3 to the top of the scale in just a few hours.
According to the NHC, Milton is accompanied by winds of up to 250 km/hr. It will bring violent gusts of wind to the Yucatan on Monday and Tuesday, before making landfall in southwestern Florida from Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
Milton is causing a great deal of concern in the southeastern US state, less than two weeks after the particularly devastating passage of Helene through the north of the country.
"If anyone has the means to do so (...) take the road today," Florida authorities urged at a press conference on Monday, addressing the people of the Tampa metropolitan area in particular. The area, located on the Gulf of Mexico, is home to about 3 million people.
On Sunday, the state government had extended the state of emergency declared the previous day to 51 of the 67 counties in the state, the third most populous in the United States, with a population of just under 23 million.
By warming the waters of the seas and oceans, climate change is making it more likely that storms will intensify rapidly, and increasing the risk of more powerful hurricanes, according to scientists.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned at the end of May that this year's hurricane season, which runs from the beginning of June to the end of November, was shaping up to be extraordinary, with the possibility of four to seven hurricanes of Category 3 intensity or more.
