- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ |
Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
Hurricane Milton exploded in strength Monday to become a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm bound for Florida, threatening the US state with a second ferocious hurricane in as many weeks.
The back-to-back hurricanes have whipped up a US election storm, with Vice President Kamala Harris slamming her White House rival Donald Trump and Florida's Republican governor Ron DeSantis for "political gamesmanship" and for spreading misinformation about the federal response.
Milton, which is forecast to batter Mexico's Yucatan peninsula as it churns eastward, rapidly intensified to the highest category on a scale of five, triggering evacuation orders and warnings of savage conditions on Florida's west coast.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm's maximum sustained winds were near 180 miles (285 kilometers) per hour, and that air pressure at the center of the storm was at a "near record low."
Communities hit by Hurricane Helene, which slammed Florida late last month, raced to remove debris that could become dangerous projectiles as Milton barrels in.
"Last time, people's cars were underwater... but the bigger issue this time is going to be the wind," said David Levitsky, a retired homeowner on Treasure Island, in Pinellas County.
Residents on the low-lying island have been piling up debris from Helene's flooding in their front yards for removal.
"All this stuff is just wind fodder that's going to just be blowing down the street and hitting who knows what," the 69-year-old told AFP.
Amid the wreckage, DeSantis, a conservative known to clash with the federal government, found himself under fire after broadcaster NBC reported he was ignoring phone calls from Harris on the Helene recovery.
DeSantis did speak to President Joe Biden about the preparations, the White House said late Monday.
Harris slammed the Republican governor for "playing political games."
"It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first," she told reporters, while also criticizing Trump as "extraordinarily irresponsible."
The former president has tapped into real frustration about the federal response after Helene and fueled it with disinformation, falsely claiming federal disaster money had been misappropriated and spent instead on migrants.
- Worst hit in 100 years -
As Milton barreled toward Florida, state authorities have issued mandatory evacuations orders for areas including some parts of Tampa, a metropolitan area of more than three million people that could take a direct hit.
"If the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years," the National Weather Service said.
A major storm surge for Florida's west coast is forecast for Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and Tampa could suffer an influx of water between eight and 12 feet (2.4 to 3.6 meters) above ground level.
Rainfall of 10 inches (25 centimeters), with localized spots of up to 15 inches, are expected to cause severe flash flooding.
In the central city of Orlando, under gray skies, hundreds of cars lined up to collect sandbags.
"We might evacuate, me and my pets, we might go to Georgia," Tony Carlson, 32, told AFP. "People think it's going to be pretty bad."
Maria Torres, 29, said her family was not planning to leave, but had prepared with a generator, food and water.
In Mexico's Yucatan, workers boarded up glass doors and windows, fishermen hauled boats ashore and schools were suspended.
In the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief in the aftermath of Helene, which killed at least 230 people across several states.
Helene hit the Florida coastline on September 26 as a Category 4 hurricane, dumping rain and causing massive flooding in remote inland towns in states further north, including North Carolina and Tennessee.
Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), also dismissed the claims about money being diverted to migrants as false and slammed the misinformation as "dangerous."
Researchers say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on.
Helene was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the US mainland since 2005's Hurricane Katrina, with the death toll still rising.
C.Kovalenko--BTB