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The US Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned this Wednesday that Hurricane Miltonexpected to be “catastrophic and deadly” to hit Florida’s west coast tonight, and asked the public to use these final hours to leave the area, as well as those unable to “immediately seek safety.” .

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said at a news conference that Milton will have a “significant impact” on communities in western Florida, where Hurricane Milton, a Category 4 hurricane, is expected to make landfall this evening or early this morning.

“There is still time to evacuate. Seek refuge within the country. From experience, most deaths occur due to rising water levels along the coast, and that is why it is time to immediately seek safe areas, away from areas where there are flood warnings,” Criswell explained.

The administrator also emphasized the importance of providing information in Spanish to the affected area, which includes thirty counties with mandatory evacuation orders in the densely populated areas of Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Orlando, totaling more than 5 million people.

Criswell also cited difficulty getting funds in place for the year due to a number of natural disasters, which he admitted he hasn’t seen since working for the emergency management agency.

The official said the two-week sequence of Hurricane Helen (the deadliest since Katrina in 2005) and Milton, with wind speeds of about 250 kilometers per hour, “will cost a lot of money” and the agency will have to ask Congress for additional resources to continue work in this intense hurricane season.

Criswell assured that they have enough resources to respond to the Helen situation that has affected the states. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee, and Milton, but “the season’s not over yet.”

Prior to Milton’s arrival, FEMA had more than a thousand personnel deployed, as well rescue and search team for people.

Criswell will travel today from North Carolina, where he led recovery efforts after the Helen strike, which killed at least 230 people, to Florida to coordinate more closely with Florida authorities and the governor. Ron DeSantis.

EFE