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'ASTRONOMICAL'
Florida evacuates ahead of Hurricane Milton with 150mph storm worst in 100 years as officials warn ‘you will die’
The Interstate 75 northbound was bumper to bumper and moving at just 7mph
THOUSANDS of people are evacuating Florida as a monster, life-threatening hurricane with 150 mph winds barrels towards the state.
Hurricane Milton's near-record winds and expected storm surge are set to bring destruction to areas already reeling from Helene's devastation 12 days ago.
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The storm, which downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane by Tuesday morning, is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
More than a million people have been ordered to evacuate from its path - with a further six million put under hurricane-watch warning.
The storm will be the worst to impact the Tampa area in more than 100 years if it stays on the current track, according to the National Weather Service.
Mayor Jane Castor warned the city's almost 400,000 residents to urgently evacuate.
"I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die," Castor told .
"This is something that I have never seen in my life, and anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen this before."
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the hurricane is already far stronger than predicted two days ago.
"This is a ferocious hurricane," DeSantis said.
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"At the strength it is now, this is a really, really strong storm.
"The effects of that, not just from the storm surge but from wind damage and debris, will be really, really significant.
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"This is not a storm you want to take a risk on."
President canceled his overseas trip ahead of the storm's landfall, according to .
Biden was scheduled to depart for on Thursday and then head south to before returning to the United States on October 15.
"Given the projected trajectory and strength of Hurricane Milton, President Biden is postponing his upcoming trip to Germany and Angola in order to oversee preparations for and the response to Hurricane Miltion, in addition to the ongoing response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the Southeast," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the outlet in a statement.
'ASTRONOMICAL' STROM
Liz Alpert, the mayor of Sarasota, one of the cities on Florida's Gulf Coast that is on the direct path of the hurricane, warned residents to evacuate.
"What everyone has been saying is you have to evacuate; it's not survivable to survive a 10 to 15-foot storm surge. It just simply isn't," Alpert told .
"I think people are heeding that warning after having lived through Helene."
Orlando meteorologist Noah Bergren described the storm as "nothing short of astronomical."
"I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe you the storms small eye and intensity," he wrote on X.
President Biden said the hurricane could be "one of the worst storms in 100 years" to hit Florida.
"I've directed this team to do everything it can to save lives and help our communities before, during, and after these extreme weather events," Biden told reporters on Tuesday.
What is a hurricane and how do they form?
A HURRICANE is another name for a tropical cyclone - a powerful storm that forms over warm ocean waters near the equator.
Those arising in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific are called hurricanes, while those in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean are dubbed typhoons or cyclones.
North of the equator they spin anticlockwise because of the rotation of the Earth, however, they turn the opposite way in the southern hemisphere.
Cyclones are like giant weather engines fuelled by water vapor as it evaporates from the sea.
Warm, moist air rises away from the surface, creating a low-pressure system that sucks in air from surrounding areas - which in turn is warmed by the ocean.
As the vapor rises, it cools and condenses into swirling bands of cumulonimbus storm clouds.
The system grows and spins faster, sucking in more air and feeding off the energy in seawater that has been warmed by the sun.
At the center, a calm "eye" of the storm is created where cooled air sinks towards the ultra-low pressure zone below, surrounded by spiraling winds of warm air rising.
The faster the wind, the lower the air pressure at the center, and the storm grows stronger and stronger.
Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land as they are no longer fed by evaporation from the warm sea.
But they often move far inland - dumping vast amounts of rain and causing devastating wind damage - before the "fuel" runs out and the storm peters out.
Hurricanes can also cause storm surges when the low air pressure sucks the sea level higher than normal, swamping low-lying coasts.
THEME PARKS CLOSE GATES
SeaWorld Orlando announced a two-day closure of its theme park as Hurricane Milton approaches.
"After reviewing the latest route of Hurricane Milton and to ensure the safety of our ambassadors, guests and animals, SeaWorld Orland, Aquatica Orlando and Discovery Cove Orlando will be closed on Wednesday, October 9th and Thursday, October 10th," the park announced.
World announced its iconic theme park will close in phases beginning at 1 pm on Wednesday and will likely be closed for the day on Thursday.
Universal Orlando will close its theme parks and entertainment district at 2 pm on Wednesday and will remain closed on Thursday.
EVACUATION
Meanwhile, Interstate 75 northbound was bumper to bumper and moving at just 7 mph on Monday afternoon as terrified residents fled the state.
Authorities have opened up the left northbound shoulder of Interstate 75 from Tampa to Interstate 10 in north Florida and along eastbound Interstate 4 to help drivers get away.
Almost all of Florida's west coast was under a hurricane warning early Tuesday as the Category 4 storm and its 155mph winds crept toward the state at 9mph.
The strongest Atlantic hurricane on record is the 1980s Allen, which reached wind speeds of 190mph as it moved through the Caribbean and Gulf before striking and .
Forecasters warned of a possible 8-to-12-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay.
Milton's center could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century.
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Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, though it could retain hurricane strength as it churns across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean.
That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains.
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