The US state of Florida is threatened by Hurricane Milton, the strongest hurricane of the century, and long lines of vehicles have formed on Florida’s main highways as authorities have ordered more than 1 million people to evacuate.
The Guardian reports that the Category 5 hurricane with winds of 200 miles per hour could increase to a new Category 6 level.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned in a midnight advisory not to wait until Wednesday to evacuate because people won’t have much time.
In anticipation of the storm and to evacuate, people filled the tanks of their vehicles with petrol, after which non-availability of petrol signboards were displayed at several petrol pumps. According to the report of GasBuddy, 7 thousand 912 petrol stations in Florida have received reports of running out of fuel till 6:30 pm on Tuesday.
Kinder Morgan has shut down its Central Florida pipeline system, which moves refined products between Tampa and Orlando. However, the trucks are expected to be able to pick up fuel from Orlando’s wholesale racks.
Hurricane victims have taken shelter in hotels throughout Orlando that were once thronged with tourists and convention-goers. According to the foreign news agency ‘AFP’, US President Joe Biden has also instructed the citizens of the potentially affected areas to move to safe places.
Families in the low-lying coastal areas of Clearwater and St. Petersburg evacuated their homes where storm surges from Milton could reach 15 feet.
According to the news agency, the shelves of supermarkets in other areas were empty of food items due to the fear of storm. According to the Meteorological Department, the affected areas are also likely to receive up to 15 inches of rain.
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