TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s governor warned residents Monday that time is running out to get your preparations in place as a monster Category 5 Hurricane Milton churns toward the state.
The National Hurricane Center said Milton has maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. It’s expected to weaken slightly to a Category 3 storm before making landfall Wednesday night on Florida’s west coast, likely in the Tampa Bay area.
TRACKING THE TROPICS: Hurricane Center | Hurricane Guide
“You have time to execute your plan, but you gotta do it now,” DeSantis said Monday in Tallahassee. “You have an opportunity today to do what you need to do to execute this plan. You have time today. But do it. Because time is gonna start running out very, very soon.”
The governor said Monday will be a critical day for residents who need to evacuate as a “flurry” of evacuation orders will be issued over the coming hours for counties along Florida’s west coast.
For now, no mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast. However, Okeechobee County is under a hurricane watch.
“I would highly recommend, if anybody has the means to do so, you have the capability of going to a hotel, staying with friends and family, get on the road today,” said Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.
WATCH: Gov. Ron DeSantis gives update on Hurricane Milton preparations
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives update on Hurricane Milton preparations
51 Florida counties — including Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee counties — are under a state of emergency Monday because of Milton.
As of Monday, DeSantis said “there is no shortage of fuel at this time” as drivers fill up their vehicles before Milton arrives.
“The state of Florida is amassing significant amount of fuel reserves ahead of Milton, and we’re staging it to be utilized as needed. These quantities include 415,000 gallons of diesel, 389,000 gallons of gasoline, and an additional 1.5 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline are currently in route,” DeSantis said. “All fuel continues to arrive at Florida ports. There has not been an interruption of that.”
The governor said up to 12 feet of storm surge is expected from Southwest Florida north into Tampa Bay. Many Gulf coast communities still have debris in the roads from Hurricane Helene two weeks ago.
5,000 National Guardsmen are now mobilized in Florida to respond to both debris removal and emergency responses, with another 3,000 Guardsmen on the way to the state.
Major truckloads of food and water have been sent to Central Florida, and the state has deployed more than 2,000 feet of flood protection systems to Gulf coast communities.
In addition, tolls have been suspended in western Central Florida into Central Florida, as well as on Alligator Alley.