The News
Hurricane Milton reached Category 5 status in just 18 hours, the second-fastest storm to do so, as it approached the US state of Florida.
The southeastern United States is already reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene last week, which killed at least 230 people and left huge areas without power: Milton will “likely become historic for the damage, death, and destruction in its wake,” Ars Technica reported, especially since it will hit Tampa, which has not seen a major hurricane since 1921.
Sen. Marco Rubio warned that the storm was a worst-case scenario for Florida, and analysts are already predicting tens of billions of dollars in damages.
An atmospheric scientist wrote in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that Helene “isn’t an outlier. It’s a harbinger of the future,” as warming seas boost storms’ energy and warm air allows them to carry more rain.