Hurricane Milton slams Florida as recovery continues following Helene

Milton is the second major storm to slam Florida in just two weeks.

Some people are still out of their homes, and piles of debris remain from Hurricane Helene.

For many, fatigue is starting to set in, but there’s been no time to reflect and hardly any time for cleanup. Milton is barreling down on Florida, and its impact is expected to produce catastrophic damage.

NBC 5 spoke to Babs Littleton, who is sheltering in the Tampa area after evacuating from her home in St. Petersburg. She talked briefly through a shaky cell signal as the storm neared the area.

“When they tell you to evacuate your zones, that means to get out because when the storm surge is high, that means it’s going to be harder for police to come and rescue you,” she said. “I was in Zone A, so we had to get out. So, we got the evacuation notice, and we got out immediately.”

Surge warnings have been issued for almost all of Florida’s west coast, predicting “life-threatening” flooding. For central Florida, there are major warnings as well.

Some 15 million people are under a flood watch, and 11 million are at risk for tropical tornadoes.

“We have no other way of underscoring that storm surge, so make sure you’re taking care of yourself. You’re taking care of your loved ones as well,” said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.

In North Texas, teams are mobilizing to lend much-needed help and resources in the coming days and weeks. Texans on Mission is already on the ground in Florida, having been stationed there following Hurricane Helene.

“We’ve had people in St. Pete and Tampa flood recovery from Helene. And we just move them to Valdosta, Georgia, to be out of harm's way, and they’re going to move back in with this group later on this week,” said Rand Jenkins with Texans on Mission.

By late afternoon, officials in many areas said the window of time for evacuation had passed. Flights out of Dallas to the area were canceled. The storm will track across Florida from west to east.