As Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 5 storm Monday morning, public officials in Hillsborough County had a simple and direct message for residents of areas subject to evacuation orders — if they failed to go, they could die.
Officials in Pinellas County said Sunday that the storm surge from what is now Hurricane Milton could be as high as 10 feet, nearly double the amount that residents on the barrier islands contended with from Hurricane Helene just a little over a week ago.
Hurricane Helene has now produced maximum sustained winds near 120 mph, according to a Thursday afternoon National Hurricane Center update.
A day after Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 41 counties, he added 20 more on Tuesday, warning nearly the entire state to prepare for Tropical Storm Helene.
Walt Disney World has agreed to live with a new state oversight board created by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature in a settlement approved Wednesday in the company’s state court challenge to the arrangement.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said early evening Wednesday that while Hurricane Ian is still battering the Southwest part of the peninsula, the Category 4 storm is going to continue to lash through Florida hundreds of miles away before it escapes into the Atlantic.