Highway signage announces the impending arrival of Hurricane Milton and the evacuations zones on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Port Richey, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
Hurricane Milton churned through the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida on Tuesday as an “extremely dangerous” storm that could wallop one of the state’s major population centres just two weeks after deadly Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.
The system is threatening the Tampa Bay area, which is home to more than 3.3 million people and has managed to evade a direct hit from a major hurricane for more than 100 years. Milton is also menacing other stretches of Florida’s west coast that were battered when Helene came ashore on September 26.
