Ron DeSantis 5 p.m. update on Milton shows hurricane may shift south of Tampa

Gov. Ron DeSantis reiterated his warnings for the West Coast of Florida as Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico keeps churning toward the Sunshine State.

DeSantis had a few updates from the briefing earlier Sunday morning. Most notably, the trajectory of Milton may now move a bit south from its original projection of hitting the Tampa Bay area Wednesday afternoon. The storm, still about 800 miles south, southwest of Tampa, has strengthened to about 85 mph winds, up from the 80 mph winds earlier Sunday. It’s projected to grow to a Category 3 storm by Wednesday. It was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane midday Sunday.

Whether the storm hits the Tampa area or south in the Sarasota or Charlotte County area, the governor said every county on the Gulf Coast of Florida should be on alert and some areas have already been told to evacuate.

“There’s just no way of saying” where the center of the storm will hit, DeSantis said, adding 51 Florida counties are now under a state of emergency he declared Saturday.

“Have a plan. Execute the plan. Now is the time to do it,” DeSantis said. “For Southwest Florida, don’t get wedded to where the storm is now. A lot can change.”

DeSantis advised that a storm surge is likely to hit the entire Southwest Florida coast as Milton barrels toward landfall. He said the state has assembled 600 ambulances that will be ready to assist. Thousands of gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel are also prepared to help with transportation measures.

DeSantis also urged that debris cleanup in multiple counties after the disaster caused by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26 will continue in all counties impacted. He said that it would continue 24 hours a day, every day until Milton slams Florida.

Feeder bands and outer reach rain bands from Milton have already caused cloud cover Sunday over much of the Florida peninsula. The Southwest Florida Coast from Naples north to about Sarasota got hit with hard rain much of Sunday.

Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Gulf Coast residents should consider evacuations now. In many counties, mandatory evacuation orders have already been issued.

The state has prepared emergency fuel sources and EV charging stations along evacuation routes and “identified every possible location that can possibly house someone along those routes,” Guthrie said. He said that people who live in homes built after Florida strengthened its codes in 2004, who don’t depend on constant electricity, and who aren’t in evacuation zones should probably avoid the roads.

As Milton approaches, all classes and school activities in St. Petersburg’s Pinellas County are preemptively closed Monday through Wednesday. Tampa opened city garages for free so people could park their cars safely from the subsequent floodwaters.

DeSantis said that as many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews remove debris, and he directed that Florida crews be dispatched to North Carolina in Helene’s aftermath and return to the state to prepare for Milton.

The hurricane center said Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys, and the northwestern Bahamas should monitor the system’s progress. Heavy rainfall was expected Sunday before the storm itself and will likely combine with Milton’s rainfall to flood waterways and streets in Florida. Forecasters said up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain could fall in places through Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, in the open Atlantic, Hurricane Kirk diminished to a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday, with top winds of 105 mph (165 kph), sending large swells and “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” to Bermuda and northward along the U.S. and Canadian coasts, the center said. Hurricane Leslie was also moving over the Atlantic Ocean, well away from land, with top winds of 85 mph (140 kph).