Tropical Storm Milton leads to partial power disruption
Following Hurricane "Helene", the powerful Hurricane "Milton" is on its way to hitting Florida. Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall soon, leaving tens of thousands of residents without power. President Biden has warned that "Milton" could be the "storm of the century".
Initially, the storm's outer bands brought strong winds and power outages to Florida's west coast. The Hurricane Center reported that the storm's center was approximately 155 kilometers from Tampa on Wednesday afternoon (local time). The hurricane's maximum wind speed was reported to be 205 kilometers per hour.
With the storm approaching, power outages had already begun. Over 44,000 customers in Florida were estimated to be without power on Wednesday afternoon, according to the poweroutage.us tracking website.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that anyone in the path of the storm was likely to experience power outages. More than 50,000 utility workers from California are currently in Florida to restore power as quickly as possible, DeSantis announced at a briefing in Lake City.
Category 3 Storm
On Wednesday, the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 3 storm. However, Hurricane Center officials stressed that "Milton" remained a "heavy and extremely dangerous storm." The hurricane is predicted to make landfall on Wednesday evening and then continue its path towards the Atlantic.
President Biden once again warned of the storm's immense power just before "Milton" hit Florida's west coast. "It looks like the storm of the century," Biden stated at a meeting with officials from key agencies such as the Secretary of Homeland Security and the head of FEMA. Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic presidential nominee also attended the briefing, which was broadcast live on television.
President Biden also warned against the spread of misinformation. In recent weeks, misinformation and lies have been spread in a "reckless, irresponsible, and ruthless" manner, causing concern among the public. Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is reportedly leading this disinformation campaign.
Trump has been promoting conspiracy theories during campaign events recently, alleging that FEMA funds are being used to incentivize illegal immigrants to vote for presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The storm's approaching winds and rain caused FLorida's west coast to prepare for widespread power outages. Despite being downgraded to a Category 3 storm, Hurricane "Milton" was still deemed "heavy and extremely dangerous" by the Hurricane Center, potentially impacting Florida for several days.
