An hour ago to a category 4 but a serious and deadly storm that will have the target of the West Coast of florida in its sights sometime later tonight and early tomorrow morning. Im Bill Hemmer in orlando. We do a split show today. Dana you are missed but glad youre there. This is americas newsroom, im dana perino. You have covered many of these hurricanes, bill. I think that even you are saying wow, this one is big and monster by comparison even. Bill you know, i think it is storm 21. Im back at a hotel where i was five years ago. Florida will take a wallop here. They were predicting earlier today there will be a part of the West Coast of florida that will have a Storm Surge of eight to ten feet. Think about that now. Those low lying Barrier Islands that have been so built up over the past 50 years. The Population Increase on the West Coast of florida. This is going to be a doozy. Experts describe milton as a once in a Century Storm and folks in tampa are taking heed. Very tough. We r
Is going to be different here just so the difference what they are used to and what this will be as a way to hopefully give them more encouragement and know they need to get out there to speak with thank you, madame Vice President. We have been emphasizing Size And Intensity of the storm which is unusual and really raises that Storm Surge Risk for the West Coast of florida. We typically see hurricanes west Coast Florida South Southeast Parallel to the coach, coast and raises the Storm Surge Risk and size of the storm will produce hazardous impacts across much of the peninsula. But the Surge Risk on both coasts of hurricaneforce winds and Flooding Rain Fall threat and tornadoes to try to reemphasize the Scale And Breadth of the threat which is somewhat unusual for milton. Thank you and thank you for your work. For people listening, what is the width of the state of florida from Tampa Bay Area across to sebastian and in that area, Palm Beach . What kind of distance are we talking about .
This is not survivorable the urgent warning we got from Central Florida officials to all the people living in Hurricane Miltons path. The Evacuation Zone involves Six Million people. And this storm is hours away now from colliding with floridas gulf coast. The impact has the potential to change the coastline. Our Meteorologist Janice Dean was saying it will do that. President biden and Vicepresident Kamala Harris are getting briefed were told on preparations. Officials are bracing for extreme winds and the windshield on this has grown exponentially so its going to affect far many more people than we thought at first. The winds could cause widespread power outages, like we just saw less than two weeks ago across six states in the southeast, including florida. Helene hit florida first. This is the second punch. 15 feet of lifethreatening Storm Surge expected, and time is running short for people who actually want to get out of the way. And you might have to go a little bit farther away t
Still be so close . Yet here we are. We showed you those numbers, plus 6, plus 10. His ability to outperform in that state is remarkable anywhere in the country. Thank you, my friend. More than 5. 5 Million people are under voluntary or mandatory Evacuation Orders in Florida Tonight as the state braces for the S Impact of hurricane milt. Tolls were waived and Highway Shoulders were open to ease clogging as florida residents took to the roads to get out of the storms way. Hurricane milton is expected to make landfall in florida late thursday night. Its expected to drive straight now central nra, the straight direct hit for areas like tampa in more than a century. The mayor of tampa issued this stark warning to his residents. If h you choose to stay in one these evacuation areas, you are going to die. Now, ineven in less extreme circumstances, preparing for a Natural Disaster is always a challenge. The government has to coordinate between state and local and federal agencies. Thosera age
Hurried preparations, theres also a new worry. Limited resources. Gas stations literally running on empty, and Grocery Store shelves picked clean. Nbcs marisa is joining us from tampa. Jay gray is standing by in ft. Myers. And Meteorologist Michelle Grossman is tracking the storm for us. The track of this storm has shifted slightly since yesterday. Where do we expect landfall now . Yeah, this has kind of wobbled back and forth, ten miles north or south. As we go throughout time, we are anticipating that westcentral u. S. Coast impact on The State Of Florida. We are looking at a category 4 storm. This is catastrophic. People are going to lose homes. Theres a threat to life and property. So were going to watch this very closely, we are about 16 hours away from landfall. Were looking at winds of 155 miles per hour. Yes, it weakened to a category 4, but keep in mind a Category 5 is 157 miles per hour, so this is a very strong category 4 strong. Its heading northeast at 6 miles per hour, no