Authorities in Florida issued evacuation orders in counties near Tampa due to the imminent arrival of Milton
Text: RFI/AFP
A new storm was advancing towards the Florida coast this Sunday, amid controversy surrounding the federal aid provided to victims after the devastating passage of Hurricane Helene through the southeastern United States a week ago.
Currently in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton has strengthened into a Category 1 (of 5) hurricane and is expected to strengthen into a “major hurricane” (Category 3 and above) before making landfall in Florida in mid-August. next week, warned the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Milton’s exact path was not entirely clear Sunday, but officials across the state warned residents to prepare for the possibility of it intensifying on Monday.
Authorities have already issued mandatory evacuation orders in areas of Pasco County and Anna Maria Island, near Tampa, while others asked residents to evacuate some buildings.
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President Joe Biden was briefed on Milton’s progress and said in a statement that his administration was preparing “life-saving resources.”
The NHC expects Milton to move north of the Yucatan Peninsula and cross the southern Gulf of Mexico between Monday and Tuesday.
“Right now, we are still cleaning up what Helene left behind” in Florida, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN.
Emergency services continue to work hard to help the many victims of this hurricane, the deadliest to hit the United States since Katrina in 2005.
Helene, which peaked as a Category 4 hurricane, has so far caused 226 deaths in half a dozen states in the southeast of the country and caused major flooding.
The United States Meteorological Observatory (NOAA) warned at the end of May that the hurricane season, which runs from the beginning of June to the end of November, was shaping up to be extraordinary this time, with the possibility of between four and seven category hurricanes. 3 or more.
“Fully Prepared” for Milton
“We are fully prepared” to face the consequences of Milton, the director of the federal natural disaster response agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, said on Sunday.
“We started preparing for this several days ago, even before (the storm) formed. “We know it’s headed directly to Florida,” he said during an interview on ABC.
“We will deploy resources commensurate with the needs,” he added, specifying that the teams are already in place.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Sunday expanded the state of emergency declared the day before to 51 of the area’s 67 counties.
According to the NHC, “heavy precipitation will affect parts of Florida” on Sunday and Monday even before Milton arrives.
While it is “still too early to specify the exact scale and location of the most significant impacts,” the agency warns of the possibility of “destructive winds” and significant storm surge later in the week.
Rumors
This new threat comes as U.S. officials struggle to counter an avalanche of misinformation about aid provided to disaster victims in the Southeast.
Former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump on Saturday repeated accusations, also echoed by tycoon Elon Musk, that the Democratic administration had redirected aid funds intended for areas devastated by Hurricane Helen to dedicate them to programs in favor of immigrants.
“It is frankly ridiculous and simply false,” the FEMA director responded on Sunday, lashing out at the wave of rumors that abound on social media on the subject.
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Earlier in the week, Trump had accused the government and Democratic authorities in North Carolina of “deliberately failing to provide assistance to residents of Republican areas.”
“This kind of rhetoric doesn’t help people,” lamented Deanne Criswell, concerned about the impact of this fake news on the work of emergency services.
Those affected “are afraid to ask us for help or register for help,” he said. “And this has a considerable impact on the comfort of our teams (…) it is demoralizing.”
FEMA, as well as the authorities of North Carolina, the state most affected by the hurricanes, have created a page that deconstructs these false accusations, such as the one according to which homes that requested federal aid after the disaster could be expropriated.
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