Hurricane Milton: What we know so far about the storm that has forced millions to evacuate in the US and Mexico
Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall in the US just days after Hurricane Helene caused more than 200 deaths and widespread devastation across several states.
But what do we know about the hurricane so far and what does it mean for people in its path?
Where is the hurricane now and when will it hit the US?
Milton is currently heading towards the US at 9mph (14kph) and is sucking energy from the Gulf of Mexico’s warm water.
It is expected to have winds of up to 129mph when it hits the shores in the Tampa Bay area on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday.
A sculpture of Poseidon stands in the ocean before the arrival of Hurricane Milton in Progreso, Yucatan state, Mexico. Pic: AP
The region, home to more than three million people, has not experienced a direct hit by a major hurricane in more than a century.
The storm is also threatening Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where more than one million people have been ordered to evacuate.
Hurricane Milton on 7 October. Pic: Reuters/CSU/CIRA & NOAA
On the upside, scientists expect Milton to weaken slightly before landfall, and its path through central Florida will spare the states devastated by Helene less than two weeks ago.
What is the storm surge warning?
As of Tuesday morning, Tampa Bay is under both a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning, as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts that it could be inundated with surges between three to four metres.
The NHC said that peak storm surge levels would be between the Anclote River and Englewood, a stretch of about 100 miles that includes Tampa and various islands and keys.
“The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” an update said.
What measures are being taken to protect residents?
Hundreds of thousands of residents in communities along the western Gulf Coast were subject to evacuation orders.
In Florida, this means that first responders are not expected to risk their lives during a storm to rescue anyone who chooses to stay.
“If you remain there, you could die, and my men and women could die trying to rescue you,” Hillsborough Fire Rescue Chief Jason Dougherty said.
Hurricane Milton’s path
In a press conference this afternoon, Governor Ron DeSantis said authorities is amassing up to 1.2 millions fuel reserves, and are assisting ensuring critical infrastructure – including hospitals and waste water treatment centres – have flood protection systems.
There was significant traffic congestion on Monday as Tampa Bay residents escaped to safer areas in the north towards the Florida Panhandle or southeast to Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida, and US Representative Kathy Castor said 7,000 federal workers were on hand to help in one of the largest mobilisations of federal personnel in history.
“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told a news conference on Monday. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.”
Meanwhile, Mexican officials were using buses to evacuate people from low-lying towns and cities.
How powerful is Hurricane Milton?
Milton was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane earlier this morning, but the NHC said it still posed “an extremely serious threat to Florida”.
Governor Ron DeSantis was a “really significant” hurricane in this afternoon’s press conference.
The storm intensified quickly on Monday, becoming a Category 5 storm in the afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (285 kph) before being downgraded.
A view of near-empty shelves of bread at a Walmart as Hurricane Milton approaches, in Tampa, Florida. Pic: Reuters
Sandbags are distributed to Pinellas County residents before the expected arrival of Milton, in Seminole, Florida. Pic: Reuters
The strongest Atlantic hurricane on record is Allen in 1980, which reached wind speeds of 190 mph (306 kph) as it moved through the Caribbean and Gulf before striking Texas and Mexico.
Milton became the third-fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Ocean, the US National Hurricane Centre said, and its path from west to east was also unusual, as Gulf hurricanes typically form in the Caribbean Sea and make landfall after traveling west and turning north.
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Hasn’t the US just had a hurricane?
Yes, the area Hurricane Milton is forecast to hit was already devastated by Hurricane Helene just 12 days ago.
Helene, which also affected Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky, killed at least 230 people and caused devastating flooding and destruction.
Bodycam footage has captured the arrest of a US city mayor during a protest at a federal immigration detention centre.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was released from custody hours after he was detained on Friday, has denied trespassing during a confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
He was at the facility, which opened in the New Jersey city last week, with three members of Congress and witnesses said his arrest came after he tried to join them in entering the centre.
Ras Baraka (centre) has been released from custody. Pic: Reuters
In bodycam footage released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an agent can be heard telling him: “Listen, congressmen are different, congresswomen are different.
“Mr Mayor, anyone that is not a congresswoman or man, step back… It’s your last warning. You will be placed under arrest.”
A heated argument broke out after Mr Baraka’s entry was blocked and he left the secure area to rejoin protesters on the other side of the gate.
Minutes later, several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side.
Mr Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs, as protesters shouted: “Shame.”
Protesters shout ‘let him out’ after mayor’s arrest. Pic: AP
Alina Habba, interim US attorney for New Jersey, said on X that Mr Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group, adding he had “chosen to disregard the law”.
The DHS said in a statement that the politicians had not asked for a tour of the Delaney Hall centre, which the agency said it would have facilitated.
The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon “a group of protestors, including two members of the US House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility”.
After his release on Friday night, the mayor told waiting supporters: “The reality is this: I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mr Baraka, a Democrat running to succeed term-limited Governor Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with Donald Trump‘s administration over illegal immigration.
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He has been a vocal critic against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention centre, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.
DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.
US
UK-US trade deal ‘isn’t worth the paper it’s written on’, Nobel Prize-winning economist tells Sky News
A Nobel Prize-winning economist has told Sky News the recently announced UK-US trade deal “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.
Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump announced the “first-of-a-kind” agreement with a live, televised phone call earlier this week – and the British prime minister hailed the deal as one that will save thousands of jobs in the UK.
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But leading economist Joseph Stiglitz has told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he “wouldn’t view [the deal] as a great achievement”.
“Any agreement with Trump isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” he said, pointing out the president signed deals with Canada and Mexico during his first term – only to slap them with hiked tariffs within days of returning to the White House this year.
“I would view it as playing into Trump’s strategy,” he said.
“His strategy is divide and conquer, go after the weakest countries, and sort of put the stronger countries in the back.”
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How good is the UK-US deal?
The scramble to secure a UK-US trade deal was sparked by Mr Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement last month, which saw the president hike import tariffs for multiple countries and subsequently send global markets crashing.
China initially faced tariffs of 34% and when Beijing hit the US with retaliatory rates, a trade war quickly ensued.
The US and China now impose tariffs of above 100% on each other, but representatives from the two countries have this weekend met for high-stakes negotiations.
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Donald Trump, with US vice president JD Vance and Britain’s ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, announcing the deal. Pic: AP
Sir Keir Starmer dialled in for the deal announcement. Pic: AP
With its response to Mr Trump, Beijing “made it very clear that the US is very dependent on China in so many ways,” Mr Stiglitz said.
“So they’re beginning now to negotiate, but from a position of strength.”
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Asked if he thinks the UK should have focused on its relationship with the EU instead of the US, Mr Stiglitz said: “Very much so.
“My view is that if you had worked with the EU to get a good deal, you could have done better than what you’ve done.
“If it turns out, in the end, when you work it all out, Trump is unhappy, he’ll run. If he’s unhappy, I pray for you.”
Among the terms in the UK-US trade deal are reduced tariffs on British car and steel exports to the US, while the UK has agreed to remove a tariff on ethanol, used to produce beer.
The agreement also opens a new agricultural exchange, with US farmers being given access to the UK for the first time – though UK food standards on imports have not been weakened.
Driving south from Los Angeles along the coast, you can’t miss the San Pedro port complex. Dozens of red cranes pop up from behind the freeway.
The sound of industry whirs as containers are unloaded from hulking ocean liners on to waiting lorries and freight trains that seem to never end.
The port of Long Beach combines with the port of Los Angeles to make the busiest port in the western hemisphere.
The San Pedro port complex
The colourful metal containers contain anything and everything, from clothes and car parts to fridges and furniture. Around $300bn of cargo passes through here every year and 60% of it is from China.
But at the moment, it’s far less busy than usual. Traffic is down by a third, compared with this time last year.
In the closest part of the mainland United States to China, this is Donald Trump‘s new tariffs policy in action, the direct result of frozen trade between the two countries.
“For the month of May, we expect that we’ll be down about 30% from where we were in May of 2024,” Noel Hacegaba, the port of Long Beach chief operating officer, tells Sky News.
“What that translates into is fewer ships and fewer containers. It means fewer trucks will be needed to transport those containers from the port terminal to the warehouses. It means fewer jobs.”
Noel Hacegaba, chief operating officer of the port of Long Beach
‘We’re barely surviving’
Helen Andrade knows all about that. She and her husband, Javier, are both lorry drivers. Helen only got her license in the last few years, so when work dries up, she is likely to be impacted first.
“I’m lying awake at night worrying about this,” she says.
“We’re barely surviving and we’re already seeing work slowing down. In my case, there are two incomes that are not going to come in. How are we going to survive?”
Helen adds: “I’m scared for the next two weeks, because over the next two weeks, I’m going to see where this is going, whether I have saved up enough money, which I know that I have not.”
Lorry driver Helen Andrade
In Long Beach, one in five jobs is connected to the port. But what happens in the port doesn’t stay here.
The shipments reach every part of the country and already, a shortage of certain items imported from China and price hikes are taking hold.
A short drive away is downtown LA’s toy district, a multicultural area consisting of a dozen streets of pastel-coloured buildings, home to importers and wholesalers of toys, much of which is imported from China.
Colourful balloons line windows in LA’s toy district
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One woman in a toy warehouse is reading a Chinese newspaper. She points to a headline about the 145% tariffs.
“I can’t afford this, I can’t afford this, I’m going to have to put prices up,” she says, exasperated.
Empty shelves
Around the corner is a party shop, selling gift bags and wrapping paper. There are empty shelves which would otherwise have been full.
“These empty spaces are where we stopped importing from China because the tariffs are too high,” says the owner, Jacob Mok.
Party shop owner Jacob Mok
Empty shelves in Mr Mok’s party shop
He tells Sky News: “I’ll keep watching China and America negotiations. I hope as soon as possible they reach a deal because this is very hard for us.”
Jacob is not alone. The impact is being felt throughout the supply chain.
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US trade secretary Scott Bessent will meet his Chinese counterpart in Switzerland this weekend.
Pressure is growing on Mr Trump’s team to strike a deal with China and do it quickly.
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