Hurricane Milton

[KenAdams]

Couldn't see a thread for this in Weather.

This looks like it's going to be really bad. Helene has already caused enough devastion in the area and the poor people of Tampa are in for a lot more today.

Some people are refusing to evacuate from what I understand but the Mayor of Tampa has warned if you don't evacuate you die.

I can't imagine how scary it must be for them.

I worry about this too.

Amongst all the hyperbole about the worst storm ever on some of the more reputable sites they were already saying a 3 days ago. I think the big news sites were whipping everyone up more than they needed to.

St Petersburg escaped the worst of the flooding as it was north of the eye. I have been tracking that area as that's where my relatives live. They have had 16" of rain but the surge which started off being predicted at 10-15ft when Tampa Bay looked in the direct path was downgraded to 6 to 9 ft when it became clear landfall would be further south in Sarasota. Sarasota county will have been devastated by storm surge in coastal areas.

St Petersburg's main risk is from wind - the north side of the eye gets very powerful winds and also flash flooding from the heavy rain. But that flooding will be nothing like worst case scenarios and possibly less than from Helene two weeks ago.

@Willyoujustbequiet they weren't.

The eye literally broke apart just before it hit landfall. Nobody expected it to weaken and like Kamala was saying, the difference between the category 4&5 was literally 5mph in terms of wind speed. They weren't expecting it to weaken like it did, which is of course a good thing. But the storm could've been huge.

Best wishes. If the solar panels are still intact that is a good sign as they are fragile.

Thank you for updating. A lot of people hoping for the best.

I saw a lot of people saying they weren't going anywhere, because they didn't believe it would be anywhere near as bad as the media were hyping up.

I'm also worried about the future implications of them turning out to be right. The boy who cried wolf springs to mind, except it may end up costing a lot of lives in the future.

Also a bit disgusted by a rabid climate activist in my feed seemingly disappointed there isn't going to be a lot of death they can point to and triumphantly cry 'see'.

The storm breaking apart at the very last minute is a gift to conspiracy theorists.

@itwasnevermine you can't know that they weren't whipping everyone up into a frenzy. Other posters make valid points and you tell them they are wrong or stupid.

It's like I said yesterday, people are feeding off the drama. Making false claims, like you did yesterday about people not being able to evacuate to shelters.

Yet Floridians have seen this play out many a time and they were the voice of reason. If only anyone would've listened.

Yes, it was important to evacuate, otherwise we've learned nothing, and the hurricane had the potential to do great damage, but the hyperbole on these threads and elsewhere was unnecessary.

Imagine telling people they shouldn't holiday in places like florida between 1st june and 30th November and if they do they are stupid 😂

I too saw rolling comments on 'livestreams' saying it's all been a massive media hype, and over-exaggerated.

But when it was over the Gulf of Mexico on the 'Windy' app, and also from space station, it looked very threatening indeed.

For whatever reason, it wasn't as bad as predicted, thankfully.

There were 31 foot waves {9.44 metres} a couple of days ago in Gulf of Mexico near the eye. These have dropped to a 20 feet {6 metres} at the moment.

I'm just saying that numerous sources were already saying a 3 but the big news organisations carried in with no mention of the downgrade. Accuracy sacrificed for headlines.

The doctor a couple of us have mentioned following on social media, Dr Beachgem 10, has posted a bit of video from her house in St Petes. It is v wild and definitely scary in the dark, but nothing like what they feared could have happened this time round, so hopefully your sons place is OK - hers didn't flood this time--.
She said this morning that there's an issue with water mains that has left people without water and there are hospitals that may have to evacuate once morning comes so lots of fallout yet even if the worst is over.

Thing is, at least once a year there is a hurricane which the media talk into a devastating event and it turns out not to be.

people were saying this going to be the worst hurricane in 100 years and this is a sign that parts of Florida will now be uninhabitable, coupled with some weather man crying on tv for dramatic effect.

It absolutely had the potential to be that serious, but the media absolutely were loving whipping up the drama.

If this had turned out to be a once in 100 years event and the warnings from those in power hadn't been so stark then you would be criticising them for downplaying it. No one can ever win in these situations. And there will always be people that stay put regardless of warnings and how accurate or otherwise they were.

Exactly. It looked horrendous before it made landfall

It's about opinion, ergo there's no right or wrong. The risk averse are free to consider a holiday in Florida during hurricane season a risk not worth taking, and the risk tolerant free to consider it otherwise.

Thank goodness Florida's fortune with Milton appears to have fallen somewhat favourably (only somewhat, there's still been a lot of destruction).

The bottom line is that the risk of staying put during a hurricane is a risk worth taking until it isn't.

It is a real worry that people will feel
more complacent next time. It’s so hard to accurately predict so there will always be over and under predictions. Usually the weather reports offer the most pessimistic forecast so people are pleasantly surprised rather than the Michael Fish debacle. And here they had to go worst case scenario to protect as many lives as possible. It wasn’t expected that they eye would break apart a bit I guess.

I think warnings are highly appropriate and necessary, even evacuation orders.

Crying on National television and stating that this is what the world has become and how things are only going to get worse are not.

There is still going to be damage and flooding, and people are right to be have been concerned.

But the force of the storm had already started to decrease yesterday, and by last night it was a cat3, hit land as a cat2, and was downgraded to a cat1 pretty soon after.

I imagine that by the time it hits Orlando it will only be a tropical storm.

And that can only be a good thing.

But when issuing these kinds of warnings the professionals need to stick to the facts not make it into a drama.

That weather man got coverage on YouTube and elsewhere not because of what he was saying about the hurricane, but for crying on national television.

It’s necessary to be aware, but also to be measured.

He wasn't crying to be dramatic. He was genuinely upset at what he was seeing.

But when issuing these kinds of warnings the professionals need to stick to the facts not make it into a drama.

They were acting on the information they had at the time - the facts at the time - enough to make a grown man, with decades of meterological experience, weep on air for his fellow man.

Nope I don’t buy that.

This isn’t the first time he will have seen a storm with the potential to cause horrific devastation like this one. Does he cry every time there’s a big hurricane brewing?

The hurricane hadn’t hit land yet, as a meteorologist he knows that there is both potential for the hurricane to cause catastrophic damage, but also for it to rapidly reduce and defy all the predictions. The latter happens far more than the former, and a meteorologist he knows that.

I'm not sure if you're knowingly commenting with misinformation to fit your narrative, however it DID make landfall as a category 3 (as reported by numerous trusted sources). And we're not talking 'just' about damage and flooding, there has already been reports of multiple fatalities. If you're going to advise being measured, then do remember to take your own advice.

That's your choice then but as he said, the storm had hit the mathematical limit for what could be produced. If it had made landfall like that it would have been catastrophic. Luckily it didn't. We should be grateful for that.

New fear unlocked right? Apparently it's quite rare for people in Florida to get attacked by them though. I guess they're careful about where they swim

If you are freaked out by the Florida alligators I really don’t recommend looking up the Saltwater Crocs in Australia - I’ve seen pictures of some as big as bloody cars! They’re insane!

Australia - truly a continent where nature wants all humans dead!

I didn't mention them because it's a Florida thread - but yes I'm terrified of them! That at bears

I'm thankful I live in the UK right now that's for sure