According to the latest forecasts, Tampa Bay is expected to be among the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Milton – with storm surges expected to reach 15 feet.
While millions in this and other coastal areas have been ordered to leave, one man insists he won’t.
The man calls himself Joe C, but is nicknamed Lt. Dan, after the movie character Forrest Gump.
With his left leg amputated at the knee, he lives on a 20-foot sailboat docked in Tampa Bay Harbor.
Authorities urged him to leave, but he insisted he would stay.
“God sent me here … he told me to be here, so I’m doing what he told me to do,” he said.
“Whoever tries to get me out of here is not of God because God told me this is where I should be, and that’s why I’m doing it.
“I’m not worried. This is nothing compared to what I have been through. This is not even a minor inconvenience, because all that will happen is that everyone will get wet, but I will be fine because” m in a boat, floating.
“The wind will pick up, but my anchor is tied to the dock, so I’m not going anywhere… god’s on my back.”
@terrenceconcannonLot of people have been commenting this, so thought I would ask him. I have a hotel for him near the Tampa airport, but his is still hesitant on going. There have been many attempts from police to get him out of there, so hoping he makes the right decision and leaves♬ original sound – Tampa Terrence
“If you stay, you will die”
Over 5.5 million residents have been told to evacuate coastal areas
Populations of about 11.4 million are under hurricane warnings, according to the US National Weather Service.
Mandatory evacuation zones exist in coastal areas – with more than 5.5 million people being told to leave West Florida, one of the largest evacuations in the state’s history.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued a stern warning to locals who refuse to heed evacuation orders as Milton approaches.
“I can say without any drama at all: If you choose to stay in one of these evacuation zones, you will die,” he previously told CNN.
“Right now we’re talking about the possibility of a direct hit with a 10- to 12-foot tidal surge. Put that in perspective, Hurricane Helene, which just left the Tampa Bay area, had a 6-foot storm surge and that was literally so devastating to those in our coastal area.”
Hurricane Milton has picked up speed, gaining 95 mph in just 24 hours from Sunday to Monday.
So-called rapid intensification is classified as an increase in wind speed of 35 mph in 24 hours, so Milton’s escalation is more than double that limit.
When they speed up so dramatically, they can be more dangerous because people have less time to prepare or evacuate.
Only two U.S. hurricanes have ever intensified faster than Milton: Wilma in 2005 and Felix in 2007.
One reason Milton strengthened so quickly is its small “hole eye,” just like Wilma’s, said University of Colorado hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Now a category five, the storm is expected to expand in size but weaken in wind speeds while remaining a major hurricane when it makes landfall later.
But the rapid intensification is also due to climate change.
Hurricanes get their energy from heat in the ocean and the Gulf of Mexico is near record warm right now. This makes them intensify faster.
A separate analysis was released today on the recent deadly Hurricane Helene, from which many in the country are still reeling.
Extremely high sea surface temperatures in Helene’s path through the Gulf of Mexico were made about 200 to 500 times more likely by climate change, he found.
It also reported that Hurricane Helene’s wind speeds off the coast of Florida became about 13 mph or 11% stronger.
The US National Hurricane Center warns that Milton “has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record in west-central Florida.”
Tourists trapped inside Disney resort
People hoping to enjoy Disney World in Florida will be disappointed today as all parks are closed due to Hurricane Milton.
“We realized we’re stuck here,” said Telissa Carpenter, who is on a Disney vacation for her son’s 30th birthday.
Ms. Carpenter first heard of any weather concerns a day after landing in Florida, when she received an alert on the Disney app informing her that the resort was tracking a rapidly developing storm.
Hours later, she received another notification, this time from her airline: her flight home, scheduled for Tuesday, had been cancelled.
Only a handful of hurricanes have forced park closures in Disney’s 50-year history, according to Walt Disney World Magazine.
The region depends on tourists, with theme parks making it the most popular destination in the United States, attracting 74 million tourists last year.
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