A weather expert has issued a warning that Hurricane Milton could bring with it winds of up to 160mph and "200mph uncontrollable wind demons". The storm, which comes straight after Hurricane Helene, is expected to hit Florida on Wednesday, sparking fears of extensive damage and devastation.
Tampa's Mayor Jane Castor has urged residents to prepare and evacuate from zones A and B if necessary . She warned: "There has never been a hurricane like this in Tampa, Helene was a wake up call and this is literally catastrophic. If you choose to stay in those evacuation areas, you're going to die".
Weather specialist Jim Dale told The Mirror that while Milton may not result in as many fatalities as Helene – largely due to the number of people evacuating – it could still cause widespread damage and dangerous weather phenomena .
This includes the potential for super tornadoes forming within Milton , meaning Florida residents could face two deadly weather events simultaneously, reports the Mirror .
Jim elaborated: "We could have tornadoes within a hurricane as it crosses land, you could have super tornadoes and the hurricane at the same time. In exactly the same way as hurricanes, there's a league table.
"In this case Fujita scale...so these things move up between zero and five with five being the highest in terms of mph, these are gusts rather than sustained winds. If you've got a category 5 super tornado, you have gusts of over 200mph. I think what will happen is there'll either be zero, or a few scattered around.
"You can get them on a thunderstorm cell up to 200 miles from the center of the hurricane. What happens is that the hurricane creates quite a lot of instability, they're thunderstorms that turn into tornadoes. In either case, you think you're out of it and you get one of these 200mph uncontrollable wind demons."
Despite the fact that millions are evacuating from soon-to-be-affected areas , deaths from Milton are sadly still expected. However, Jim says there may not be as many despite the ferocity of the incoming storm.
He said: "I think it will be a lot less than Helene because the warnings are out there so I don't expect it to hit 200. I do expect it to hit maybe a couple of dozen, either climate deniers, those who can't move, or bare-chested fools who believe they can stand up to Mother Nature's wrath for the most part."
The power of Milton is causing widespread concern. Current reports indicate it's a category five hurricane, the most potent classification, with winds reaching and exceeding 157mph.
Even if it downgrades to category three or four, parts of Florida could still face wind speeds between 111mph and 156mph. Jim warned that any damage would be catastrophic and lethal for anyone in the storm's path.
He cautioned: "If it goes in at a category four, trees will be snapped, power cables down and houses destroyed, it's like a full-on train hitting you."
"Even a category three is considered to be major. Those are the statuses in terms of the wind. The big thing is the western side of Florida you're going to expect a tidal surge with waves estimated to be 10-15 feet high. If you're stood on the beach two or three times above your head, you won't survive."
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