By Leonora LaPeter Anton and Brad Brooks
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) -An expanding Hurricane Milton was on the verge of making landfall on Florida's west coast on Wednesday, spawning tornados and lashing the region with rain as it threatened the Tampa Bay area, where it could deliver a life-threatening surge of seawater.
In a state already battered by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people were ordered to evacuate, and millions more live in the projected path of the storm.
Officials issued increasingly dire warnings on Wednesday as landfall, expected on Wednesday evening, drew closer.
President Joe Biden urged people to follow local safety recommendations.
"It's literally a matter of life and death," Biden said at White House briefing.
Much of the southern U.S. experienced the deadly force of Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago as it cut a swath of devastation through Florida and several other states. Both storms are expected cause untold billions of dollars in damage.
Most hurricane fatalities occur when trees fall on people in the street, in their cars or in their homes, the National Hurricane Center warned.
Others die from post-storm accidents like setting their houses on fire using candles, igniting leaked gas with flashlights and asphyxiating from carbon monoxide produced by generators. People die of heart attacks and other medical issues after storms, as well as in accidents while using chainsaws to clear downed trees, NHC Director Michael Brennan said in a video briefing.
Fueled by unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, the storm was set to hit the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, home to more than 3 million people, as a major hurricane with a huge footprint.
At 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT), the northern eyewall of the storm was starting to spread onshore, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The center of the storm was expected to move across the central part of the Florida peninsula overnight and emerge off the east coast of Florida on Thursday.
Tropical force winds should engulf most of the state by 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT).
While Milton slightly weakened on Wednesday afternoon to a Category 3 hurricane, the third-highest level, it was growing in size as it approached Florida and remained extremely dangerous with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph), the hurricane center said.
The storm could bring a surge of seawater as high as nine to 13 feet (2.7 to 4 meters) in some areas and dump six to 12 inches (150 to 300 mm) of rain, with as much as 18 inches (450 mm) possible in spots.
Milton was expected to maintain hurricane strength as it crossed the Florida peninsula, posing storm-surge danger on the state's Atlantic coast as well.The National Weather Service confirmed at least 15 tornadoes in Florida on Wednesday, and more were expected into the early hours of Thursday.
At sea, the hurricane created waves close to 28 feet (8.5 meters) high, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
The four bridges spanning Tampa Bay were closed before the storm was due to make landfall, according to the Florida 511 website. Nearly everyone who decided to flee appeared to have done so, as most streets in nearby St. Petersburg were nearly deserted by midday on Wednesday.
Most causeways connecting the Gulf barrier islands to the mainland were also shut, stranding any who decided to ride out the storm despite pleas from officials.
ZOO ANIMALS PROTECTED
While human evacuees jammed the highways and created gasoline shortages, animals including African elephants, Caribbean flamingos and pigmy hippos were riding out the storm at Tampa's zoo.
Nearly a quarter of Florida's gasoline stations were out of fuel on Wednesday afternoon.
In Orlando, many people said they had ridden out previous hurricanes, but Milton's rapid intensification and warnings from officials spurred them into taking unusual precautions for the inland city.
Jim Naginey, a 61-year-old homeless man who has lived in Orlando for nearly three decades, said he had survived previous hurricanes on the streets. But he decided to seek shelter during Milton, joining scores of others in Colonial High School, where families huddled on the gym floor, munching on bananas and sandwiches and sipping water provided by Orange County.
"This one seems different," Naginey said. "After seeing what happened last week in North Carolina, it seems that unexpected disaster can hit in places not used to it. That's why I decided to seek shelter here."
Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said she would travel to Florida on Wednesday and remain there after the storm to help coordinate recovery efforts.
FEMA has moved millions of liters (gallons) of water, millions of meals and other supplies and personnel into the area. None of the additional aid will detract from recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, she said.
"I want people to hear from me directly, FEMA is ready," she said.
Trucks have been running 24 hours a day to clear mounds of debris left behind by Helene before Milton potentially turns them into dangerous projectiles, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said.
Major Florida theme parks shuttered ahead of the storm, with Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld all closing their doors later on Wednesday.
Nineteen hospitals were evacuated, the Florida Hospital Association said. Mobile homes, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities faced mandatory evacuation.
Milton became the third-fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic, growing from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in less than 24 hours.
"These extremely warm sea surface temperatures provide the fuel necessary for the rapid intensification that we saw taking place to occur," said climate scientist Daniel Gilford of Climate Central, a nonprofit research group.
"We know that as human beings increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, largely by burning fossil fuels, we are increasing that temperature all around the planet," Gilford said.
(Reporting by Leonora LaPeter Anton in St. Petersburg and Brad Brooks in Orlando; Additional reporting by Julio-Cesar Chavez, Evan Garcia, Rich McKay, Brendan O'Brien, Gabriella Borter, Andrew Hay, Susan Heavey and Daksh Grover; Writing by Joseph Ax and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Frank McGurty, Rod Nickel, Daniel Wallis and Sandra Maler)
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