Hurricane Milton exploded in strength to become a potentially catastrophic Category five storm bound for Florida, threatening the US state with a second ferocious hurricane in as many weeks.
The back-to-back hurricanes have whipped up a US election storm, with US Vice President Kamala Harris slamming her White House rival Donald Trump and Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis for “political gamesmanship” and for spreading misinformation about the federal response.
Milton, which is forecast to batter Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula as it churns eastward, rapidly intensified to the highest category on a scale of five, triggering evacuation orders and warnings of savage conditions on Florida’s west coast.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 285 kilometres per hour, and that air pressure at the centre of the storm was at a “near record low.”
Communities hit by Hurricane Helene, which slammed Florida late last month, raced to remove debris that could become dangerous projectiles as Milton barrels in.
Residents on the low-lying island have been piling up debris from Helene’s flooding in their front yards for removal.
Amid the wreckage, Mr DeSantis, a conservative known to clash with the federal government, found himself under fire after broadcaster NBC reported he was ignoring phone calls from Ms Harris on the Helene recovery.
Mr DeSantis also did speak to US President Joe Biden about the preparations, the White House said.
Ms Harris slammed the republican governor for “playing political games.”
“It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first,” she told reporters, while also criticising Trump as “extraordinarily irresponsible.”
The former president tapped into real frustration about the federal response after Helene and fueled it with disinformation, falsely claiming federal disaster money had been misappropriated and spent instead on migrants.
Worst hit in 100 years
As Milton barreled toward Florida, state authorities have issued mandatory evacuations orders for areas including some parts of Tampa, a metropolitan area of more than three million people that could take a direct hit.
“If the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years,” the National Weather Service said.
Rainfall of 25 centimetres with localised spots of up to 15 inches, are expected to cause severe flash flooding.
In the central city of Orlando, under grey skies, hundreds of cars lined up to collect sandbags.
In Mexico’s Yucatan, workers boarded up glass doors and windows, fishermen hauled boats ashore and schools were suspended.
In the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief in the aftermath of Helene, which killed at least 230 people across several states.
Helene hit the Florida coastline on 26 September as a Category 4 hurricane, dumping rain and causing massive flooding in remote inland towns in states further north, including North Carolina and Tennessee.
Researchers say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on.
Helene was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the US mainland since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, with the death toll still rising.