‘Look for safer shelter,’ Biden warns as Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida coast

Chris Williams runs through a rain storm as he packs his car to evacuate his apartment in Fort Myers, Fla., on Wednesday before Hurricane Milton's arrival.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

People in Florida are nearly out of time to head to higher ground ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall along the state's western coastline, an event now expected as early as Wednesday night.

The situation is especially dire: "Currently, Milton is a Category 3 ... but no one should be confused. It's still expected to be one of the most and worst destructive hurricanes to hit Florida in over a century," President Biden warned Floridians in an evening update to the American public.

"At this point, evacuation's probably difficult, so I encourage people to look for safer shelter," he said in remarks from the White House. "Sometimes moving just a few miles can mean the difference between life and death."

The storm, which had for days fluctuated between a Category 4 and 5 on the wind strength scale, on late Wednesday afternoon was designated a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.

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While the winds have decreased, the danger has not. The projected storm surge has dropped just a bit — with a maximum of 13 feet predicted in some areas. But 13 feet would still be catastrophic.

Already, government leaders in Sarasota County, Fla., have told residents they need to shelter in place as Hurricane Milton continues to bring harsh conditions to the area.

In a post on X, officials say, “It is no longer safe to be on the roadways. Individuals SHOULD NOT go out on the roadways. They should now SHELTER IN PLACE. There are reports of flooding and it is not safe to be out on the road for the duration of the storm.”

In a briefing with President Biden and Vice President Harris on Wednesday, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said his agency tried to avoid saying the storm has "weakened" when there are changes to things like wind speed, because it could give listeners the false perspective that conditions have become safe.

"People will think 'Oh, it was a [Category] 5, now it's a [Category] 3.' That's not a reason to relax," Graham said. "That means we've expanded the wind field. The impacts don't change associated with that."

Milton is also expected to remain a hurricane as it churns across the Florida during a 12-hour period and enter the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

Tropical-storm-force winds began reaching Florida's west coast Wednesday afternoon.

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“You need to prepare for catastrophic impacts,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said, speaking to anyone in Milton’s path. “This is going to be a serious storm, one that could forever change communities that are still recovering from Helene.”

Urging people to seek safety, she added, “We do not need to lo lose any lives as a result of this storm.”

Biden and Harris addressed the storm on Wednesday afternoon, urging residents to get to safety.

"We’ve been working around the clock to prepare for Hurricane Milton,” Harris said. She addressed those in the path of the hurricane, saying it would be different than others residents might have experienced. “We urge you to take this storm seriously. This is a storm that is expected to be of historical proportions."

Biden talked of a campaign of disinformation related to the storm and its aftermath. “Former President Trump has led the onslaught of lies. … It’s got to stop," he said.

"Even one congresswoman suggesting that I control the weather and implying that I'm sending it to red states," Biden said in reference to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The far-right Georgia Republican tweeted in the wake of Hurricane Helene that an unspecified "they" can control the weather, implying that it might be in an effort to influence the Nov. 5 election.

"I mean, it’s stuff off the wall. It’s like out of a comic book," Biden said.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said: "False information only is fuel for the criminal element to exploit individuals in positions of vulnerability."

Harris added that: "Anyone taking advantage of consumers will be held accountable.”

Parts of South Florida were also put under tornado watches and warnings Wednesday morning. Several tornadoes were spotted, including one near the Miccosukee Service Plaza along I-75 — where it crossed the interstate, according to the National Weather Service office in Miami.

Heavy rain spread over southwestern and west-central Florida early Wednesday, bringing some of the hurricane's first direct effects to the U.S. With conditions deteriorating as the day wears on, people in the storm’s path were being urged to finish any preparations — and evacuate if ordered to do so.

A mass exodus from coastal areas has taken a toll at gas stations, with the GasBuddy platform reporting more than 24% stations were out of gas in Florida as of 2:43 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida's west-central coast Wednesday night, and then blast across the state while maintaining its hurricane strength.
National Weather Service/NOAA

Where is Milton now?

As of 5 p.m. ET, Milton was a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 120 mph, the NHC said — a welcome decrease from the 160 mph speeds seen in the early morning. It was about 60 miles southwest of Sarasota and traveling at 17 mph. Multiple safety advisories and evacuation orders are in effect in western Florida. The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm surge could get as high as 13 feet in some places, and rainfall totals could reach 18 inches.

Storm surge warnings are in effect for Florida's west coast from Flamingo northward to Yankeetown, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. Hurricane warnings are in effect for Bonita Beach northward to Suwannee River, including Tampa Bay. Hurricane warnings also are in effect for the state's east coast from the St. Lucie-Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach.

“If you are in those storm surge evacuation zones in that region, please escape now, while you still can,” National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in an update.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued states of emergency in 51 out of 67 counties.

Debris from Helene could become ‘projectiles’

Residents and leaders are highlighting concerns about debris from Helene becoming ammunition for Milton’s winds and water.

“We just hadn't even completed our clean up from Helene,” Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert told NPR’s Morning Edition. “One of the really bad things is that people's things are still on the side of the road and, you know, that's disturbing enough to see — and then now those things are going to become projectiles or battering rams in this surge.”

Noting Milton’s imposing surge levels and strong winds, Alpert added, “This is really scary.”

The mayor said people were moving out of the way of the storm.

“A lot of people have left,” Alpert said. “Especially on our barrier islands … because they will just be entirely under water. It won’t be survivable.”

People arrive to shelter at Buffalo Creek Middle School in Bradenton, Fla., on Wednesday ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images

Thousands have left their homes to seek safety

For days now, officials have been imploring people to take evacuation orders seriously, emphasizing that people who can relocate even a relatively short distance away from flood-prone areas can find more safety and security. As of Wednesday morning, some of those shelters were at capacity.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, is urging people in the storm’s path to find a place to stay with family or friends, or in a hotel beyond an evacuation zone.

“Shelters are a last resort and should be used only if you have no other options for evacuation,” the county said.

In Sarasota County, “more than 4,130 people and close to 700 pets” were in evacuation centers as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, member station WUSF reports.

Buses had been giving free rides to shelters in Sarasota, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Pasco counties — but that service stopped at noon, due to the approaching storm.

Hoping to blunt the storm’s impact, the Florida Division of Emergency Management says it has distributed 726,200 liters of water; 581,000 MREs; 237,000 sandbags; nearly 33,600 tarp kits.

Waves crash against the Malecon promenade in Havana as Hurricane Milton churns in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.
Yamil Lage/AFP

FEMA chief heads to Florida ahead of Milton’s arrival

Criswell said she will join FEMA staff in Florida on Wednesday — traveling from North Carolina, where she’s been overseeing the agency’s response to the massive devastation left by Helene.

“We have over 1,000 personnel that have been in Florida responding to Hurricane Helene” and other storms, she said. In addition to that number, Criswell added, “We’ve moved in over 1,200 search and rescue personnel.”

Other federal personnel are also in Florida, to help towns and cities assess vital services such as health and medical needs and power. Across all the states impacted by Helene, Criswell said, more than 5,200 federal responders are at work.

“We are here to help people, we are here to save lives and that is exactly what we are postured to do for these incidents,” she said.

The storm is big, and is expected to get bigger

Forecasters warn that Milton will get bigger as it approaches Florida — adding emphasis to their frequent advice not to focus on where landfall occurs, as perils from water and wind often occur far from a hurricane’s center.

That’s particularly true with Milton: while its storm surge and rain is predicted to bring extremely high water levels to a broad part of the Gulf Coast, the hurricane’s “wind field is expected to grow considerably in size while it moves across Florida,” the NHC said on Wednesday.

Milton became a hurricane on Sunday after its wind speeds increased over very warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Milton's arrival comes just under two weeks after Hurricane Helene brought catastrophic levels of storm surge, rain and strong winds to Florida.