Hurricane Milton "upgraded" to the strongest "monster" on the planet in 2024, Mayor of a city warned people "if you don't leave, you will die!"

Over the past 24 hours, Hurricane Milton has suddenly intensified rapidly, becoming a Category 5 super storm on the 5-level warning scale and is on its way to sweep North America.

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in the US state of Florida on October 9. (Source: NY Post)

According to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Milton quickly intensified to the highest level on the 5-level Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale just less than 24 hours after forming in the Gulf of Mexico.

Milton now has winds of 285 km/h, combined with the atmospheric pressure in the storm has dropped to 897 millibars, making it one of the strongest storms ever recorded and approaching the historical threshold of being one of the strongest storms of all time in the region, "potentially catastrophic".

CNN quoted its hurricane expert Andy Hazleton as saying that super storm Milton has a historic and "unprecedented" rate of increase.

Although the storm is expected to weaken as it makes landfall in Florida on October 9, local time, it still poses a threat of strong winds, rain and sea level rise of 2.4-3.7m. County leaders along the state's west coast have asked residents to evacuate for safety.

Milton is forecast to make landfall near the greater Tampa Bay metropolitan area, then sweep across the Florida peninsula. US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency for Florida, allowing federal disaster relief and relief operations.

In the expected eye of the storm, the Tampa Bay area, 6 million residents were under storm warnings and ordered to evacuate due to the risk of life-threatening sea surges.

If it continues on its current track, "this will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in more than 100 years," the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said.

Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor urged residents to evacuate the city ahead of Hurricane Milton, stressing: "I can say this without any exaggeration: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you will die... 100%."

The official also stressed that she and any resident born and raised in Tampa Bay "have never seen this before."

Meanwhile, in Mexico, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) warned on the same day that Hurricane Milton could affect the coastal areas of Celestun and Progreso in the state of Yucatán on the same night local time, and asked people to be extremely careful to prevent storms and floods.

The Mexican government has activated a plan to deploy emergency response measures to Hurricane Milton, assist in evacuation and prevent natural disasters in the state of Yucatán.

Milton is the ninth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season so far this year and the second to strengthen to Category 5 status, after Hurricane Beryl swept across the Americas in July.

Milton is now ranked among the top 10 strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, ninth, behind Katrina and Maria. Hurricane Allen of 1980 still holds the record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane, with winds reaching 305 km/h.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/my-bao-milton-thang-cap-thanh-tinh-trong-nam-2024-thi-truong-mot-thanh-pho-canh-bao-nguoi-dan-khong-di-se-chet-289307.html