I can't even begin to imagine what the people of the Florida peninsula are going through right now.
How scary to be facing potentially one of the most powerful and deadly hurricanes to hit the west coast of Florida. Not only that, but Milton is so strong that it also is expected to strike the west coast of Florida as a hurricane and exit the east coast of Florida as a hurricane.
Milton is predicted to be the second hurricane to have its name retired in as many weeks. That's what happens when a hurricane is incredibly deadly or costly.
Folks were still cleaning up from Hurricane Helene, which roared ashore further north on the Florida coast on September 26, when they had to turn their attention to preparing for Milton. While crews frantically work to remove debris from Hurricane Helene, they are not expected to get all of it before Milton hits. The debris that remains will become deadly projectiles being flung about by the strong winds and storm surge.
Forecasters believe Milton will make landfall somewhere between Tampa Bay and Fort Myers late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
I have several friends living along the west coast of Florida in the area of Milton's predicted landfall. I pray that they remain safe.
In Kansas, we have the threat of tornadoes and storm-related flooding. That is scary enough. What we don't have is sustained winds in the 145-165 mph range, wind gusts in the 175 mph range and storm surge of 10-15 feet of sea water. The storm surge is so deadly that several days ago, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned people in the evacuation zones to leave or "you're going to die."
What an ominous warning. I can't even imagine.
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