Cat 5 Hurricane Milton Bears Down on Florida's Gulf Coast

Originally posted on SURFER | By Zander Morton | Last updated Oct 7, 2024 2:15 PM ET

On September 26, major Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida's Big Bend before devastating a huge portion of the southeast United States. From Keaton Beach, Fl, to Asheville, NC — and so many places in-between — communities are still reeling from Helene. Over 200 people are confirmed dead, with portions of Asheville and the surrounding mountain towns wiped out completely from a level of flooding not seen in over 100 years.

Now, not two weeks later, another major hurricane — this one named Milton — has Florida in its crosshairs.

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According to the official NHC forecast, Milton is currently just north of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and its headed west towards Tampa Bay (and the surrounding area). While it's still too early to accurately predict its exact landfall, Milton is already a Major hurricane with 16omph winds, and is only picking up more fuel over the warm Gulf of Mexico.

"Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 160 mph with higher gusts," says the latest HNC update. "Milton is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Further strengthening is expected, and Milton is forecast to maintain that intensity for the next couple of days."

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While Helene didn't make landfall in the Tampa Bay area, it still inflicted major damage on approach, and many homes and communities directly in Milton's path are still cleaning out their flooded homes and businesses. Like in Indian Rocks Beach, home to Cory and Shea Lopez, where the debris from Helene is (literally) still in the streets. A direct hit from Milton would be a worst-case scenario. And considering the last time a major hurricane hit Tampa Bay direct was in 1921, this truly is an unprecedented forecast for an untested area. 10-15 feet of storm surge is just a terrifying thought.

With just over 48 hours to landfall, things can and will change, sometimes by the hour. Everyone on both coasts of Florida should be paying very close attention to the NHC's latest updates and making a plan now.