https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl8e084r9yoHurricane Milton intensifies to 'potentially catastrophic' storm
11 minutes ago
Zahra Fatima, James FitzGerald and Brandon Drenon
BBC News
Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified into an extremely dangerous category five storm as it tears its way towards the US state of Florida.
Ferocious winds of up to 180mph (285km/h) have been recorded prompting increasingly stark warnings of potentially catastrophic storm surges along coastal areas.
The storm is expected to hit the heavily populated city of Tampa Bay with full force on Wednesday, authorities warned.
Floridians have been told to prepare for the state's largest evacuation effort in years, with Governor Ron DeSantis warning that time for people to evacuate is quickly running out.
"We have to assume this is going to be a monster," Governor DeSantis said at press conference on Monday afternoon.
Warnings over Hurricane Milton come just 10 days after Hurricane Helene - the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005 - pummeled the US south-east, killing at least 225 people. Hundreds more are missing.
At least 14 of those deaths were in Florida, where 51 of 67 counties are now under emergency warnings as Milton approaches.
"Unfortunately, some of the Helene victims are in the path of this storm," DeSantis said.
Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service [NWS], said Milton became a category five hurricane at record-breaking speed - with wind speeds intensifying by 80 knots (148km/h) over 24 hours.
"That's the third highest we have on record," he said.