Prepare for challenging driving conditions if your trucking route takes you through much of Florida in the coming days.
A powerful storm, Hurricane Milton, is currently moving across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to hit Florida’s west coast late Tuesday or early Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center, Milton has already intensified into a Category 5 hurricane, the highest level for hurricanes. The storm is predicted to bring “life-threatening storm surge and destructive winds” to Florida’s west coast, where large-scale evacuations are already in progress.
Milton’s winds have reached speeds of 160 mph, although it is expected to weaken slightly but expand in size as it nears landfall. Rainfall is forecasted to be between 5 and 10 inches.
This comes just a week after Hurricane Helene devastated Florida’s panhandle, continuing its destruction through much of the southeastern U.S., particularly western North Carolina. Helene has claimed 236 lives across six states, making it the second deadliest storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Around 300,000 homes and businesses are still without power.
