The scramble to flee Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton | First Thing

Good morning.

Hurricane Milton is barrelling toward Florida’s west coast and is expected to make landfall as early as Wednesday night. An estimated 6 million people across 11 counties in Florida are now under mandatory evacuation orders, with time running out to make preparations. “If you choose to stay … you are going to die,” said Tampa mayor Jane Castor.

With thousands of evacuees clogging the roadways and contending with fuel shortages, traffic on Interstate 4 from Tampa to Orlando was at a near standstill.

• How bad is Milton predicted to be? In barely a day, Milton went from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane, the strongest possible rating, with its winds hitting 180mph. Milton has the potential to become “one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida”, the National Hurricane Center said.

• What are the hardships facing those evacuating? For some, fleeing home to avoid a disaster is simply not possible. The Federal Reserve has estimated that nearly 40% of Americans would not be able to cover a $400 emergency expense in cash, while a 2021 study found that people who evacuated from the Texas Coastal Bend during Hurricane Harvey spent about $1,200 on average on evacuating – more if they had to stay in hotels.

• What have local officials done to ease evacuation efforts? Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, lifted tolls on major highways and ordered breakdown lanes open but traffic levels were still above 150% of normal, with accidents blocking some routes. “Unfortunately every storm we see traffic fatalities because people wait until the last minute to leave,” Florida’s transportation secretary, Jared Perdue, said.

Trump secretly gave Putin Covid test machines, Bob Woodward book says

Veteran reporter Bob Woodward reveals in his latest book that Donald Trump secretly sent Covid-19 testing machines to Vladimir Putin in the early stages of the pandemic, when such resources were in short supply. According to Woodward, the relationship between the two men has continued since Trump has been out of power, with as many as seven private phone calls.

• How has Trump responded to the allegations? Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, said: “None of these madeup stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man … clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously.”

In other news …

Stat of the day: The amount of rainfall from Hurricane Helene was 10% higher because of the climate crisis

Last month’s Hurricane Helene was fuelled by a record-hot Gulf of Mexico, and a new analysis has shown how that heat was 200 to 500 times more likely because of human-caused global heating. In addition to increasing rainfall by 10%, the climate emergency has made Helene’s wind about 13mph, or 11%, more intense. Scientists are now predicting that monster hurricanes like Helene are now twice as likely to happen due to global heating.

Don’t miss this: How Israel and Gaza changed dating in America

The war in Gaza has influenced every aspect of American life, from college campuses to workplaces, family dinners to the conversation at synagogues and mosques, pulling on deep-rooted allegiances and senses of identity. These diverging views have put an undeniable strain on intimate relationships. Single people who spoke to the Guardian, both Jewish and Muslim, said that while the war has deepened their connections to their religious and ethnic identities and brought them closer to their communities, it also left them more polarized and less likely to forge relationships with – or even have conversations with – people with opposing views on Gaza.

… or this: The Afghan women holding the Taliban accountable for gender apartheid

Female Afghan activists – many living in exile – are pushing for the United Nations to recognize the term “gender apartheid” for the conditions the Taliban have forced upon women and girls in Afghanistan. Since taking power in 2021, the Taliban have prevented girls from going to secondary school and barred women from nearly all forms of paid employment, from accessing the justice system or walking in public parks. Under the Taliban, women must be completely covered at all times outside the house and their voices must not be heard in public.

Climate check: Unprecedented competing disasters and a strain on resources

Emergency crews across the US are stretched thin as the south-east grapples with hurricanes and the west swelters in high temperatures. While hurricanes and fires aren’t abnormal in early autumn, the climate crisis has created more opportunities for catastrophes to overlap, with experts warning that a double-punch of hurricanes like Helene and Milton could become more common. These overlapping disasters are putting a strain on relief resources and emergency response, with the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, telling reporters last week that Fema “does not have the funds to make it through the season”.

Last Thing: Reading wrinkles

Scientists have discovered a way to determine an elephant’s “trunkedness” – a preference for which side of their trunk they use, similar to how humans are split between right-handers and left-handers. A team at Humboldt University of Berlin found that they could tell an elephant’s preference by looking at its wrinkles, with a left-trunker – an elephant that scoops objects towards the left side of its body – having has more wrinkles and longer whiskers on the left side of its trunk. “The wrinkle effect is more subtle, but still significant. It indicates that wrinkle patterns are at least partially use-dependent,” said Dr Michael Brecht, co-author of the study.

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