Survivors of deadly Hurricane Helene off the Florida coast were ordered to evacuate again on Monday as officials warned that another major hurricane was approaching as a Category 3 storm and would cause “catastrophic damage.”
Relief workers in the region are still racing to find survivors after Helen, which killed more than 225 people in a handful of states.
The US National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Monday that a hurricane warning was once again issued for parts of Florida as Milton, currently a Category 1, made landfall with winds of 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour. Coming with the blowing winds.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN that the city is “still cleaning up from Helene” and that rainfall from the new storm “will be hit hard, not to mention storm surge and wind damage.”
“Milton is forecast to rapidly intensify and intensify into a major hurricane later today” and is expected to hit Florida’s west coast on Wednesday, the NHC said.
Major hurricanes – Category 3 and above – have minimum wind speeds of 111 miles (178 kilometers) per hour, according to the NHC, which warns that even well-built homes “will suffer catastrophic damage,” while “power and Water “may be unavailable for days to weeks after the storm passes.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in 51 of the state’s 67 counties, predicting that Milton could have “big, big impacts.”
President Joe Biden was briefed on Milton and said in a statement that his administration was preparing “life-saving resources.”
Milton is forecast to move north of the Yucatan Peninsula and toward the southern Gulf of Mexico on Monday and Tuesday, the NHC said.
It said Monday that its storm surge would “raise water levels 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) above ground level” on the northern Yucatan coast and cause “large and destructive waves.”
disinformation attack
Hurricane Helene struck the Florida coast as a Category 4 hurricane, causing torrential rains and flash flooding in remote towns in states such as North Carolina.
The hurricane that struck Florida on September 26 was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – and the death toll is still rising.
Communities, especially in remote mountainous areas, have been left without electricity and drinking water.
However, relief efforts have been hit by a wave of false claims and conspiracy theories.
Among the disinformation is also the lie spread by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that relief funds have been misused and redirected towards migrants by his White House rival, Democrat Kamala Harris.
The head of the US disaster relief agency has since criticized the “dangerous” disinformation war being waged.
Dean Creswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told ABC, “This is obviously ridiculous and absolutely false… It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people.” “
The Trump campaign nevertheless doubled down, repeating the claim in a statement on Sunday.
FEMA and outside fact-checkers note that a program under the agency’s auspices to provide shelter and assistance to migrants is funded directly by Congress, completely separate from disaster-related funding.
ABC reported that law enforcement officials are monitoring threats against FEMA officials and other recovery agencies motivated by disinformation.
In addition to Trump’s false claim, The Washington Post reported Sunday on other lies about Helen, saying they were “adding to the chaos and confusion.”
They include a false claim that a dam was about to burst, which the Post said prompted hundreds of people to unnecessarily evacuate, and a “disturbing” lie that officials told a North Carolina Plans were made to bury the bodies under the debris in the city.
One user suggested “a militia go against FEMA” in a post on the social media platform X that has been viewed more than half a million times.
Asked about that post, Creswell said, “It has a tremendous impact on the comfort level of our own employees being able to go out there.”
Like North Carolina officials, FEMA has also begun to debunk the rumors online.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
