Fourth Storm in 14 Months Takes Aim at West Florida. Citizens Most Exposed

Another day, another hurricane.

That may be the thought in the minds of thousands of Floridians as Hurricane Milton makes its way toward the west coast of Florida – the fourth hurricane in 14 months to target the low-lying shoreline and inland areas.

The latest storm, expected to bring Category 4 winds, could make landfall somewhere near the heavily populated Tampa area by Wednesday night, two weeks after Hurricane Helene swamped much of the area with unusually high storm surge.

By Sunday, Milton had triggered one of the largest evacuations of the populated region in years, according to news reports. But some areas were still working to remove debris left from Helene, debris that could impede evacuations or lend flying objects to Milton’s 125-mph or greater winds. The Florida Department of Transportation has removed 53,000 cubic yards of debris in recent days but much remains, the governor’s office said.

“We do expect it to become a Category 4 by tonight or early tomorrow morning,” said Tyler Roys, a meteorologist at commercial forecaster AccuWeather Inc., according to Bloomberg news service.

Pinellas County, which includes the metropolis of St. Petersburg, on Monday was likely to issue mandatory evacuations for more than 500,000 people in the lowest lying areas, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told a press conference, Reuters news reported. Gaultieri urged people to heed evacuation orders after too many ignored them for Helene, resulting in 12 deaths in the county and 1,500 emergency calls that were unable to be answered.

Hurricane Milton’s rapid strength gain comes from warm Gulf of Mexico waters that also intensified the deadly Helene. Roys said a ridge of high pressure that’s setting temperature records in Phoenix and across the Southwest is helping steer Milton on a track from west to east across the Gulf. No storm has followed that path since 1900, Bloomberg reported.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an emergency declaration for 51 counties expected to be affected by the storm.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is expected to have the most policies in impact zone. The state-created insurer has some 115,000 residential policies in force in Pinellas County alone, which includes densely populated Clearwater and Treasure Island, according to numbers from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

The insured losses from Hurricane Helene, not including National Flood Insurance Program claims, are expected to be about $6.4 billion, according to the hurricane modeling and analytics firm Karen Clark & Co. Hurricane Ian, a stronger storm that landed in southwest Florida in 2022, caused more than $50 billion in wind and privately insured flood losses.

So, if Milton brings damage somewhere between those totals, perhaps $25 billion, it will mean more than $34 billion in insured losses, mostly in Florida, in just the last 14 months.

“We already will be rebuilding for years because of Hurricane Helene, and that will be exacerbated by the impacts of this storm,” St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said, according to Reuters.

“Remember, Hurricane Helene was 100 miles (160 km) away from us, moving in a different direction. This is a powerful Cat 2 or Cat 3 hurricane headed directly for us.”

Florida citrus crops could take another hit, Reuters noted, citing the Commodity Weather Group.

Florida OIR reported that through Oct. 4, Helene had produced more than 91,300 insurance claims. Hurricane Ian resulted in almost 777,000 claims within 18 months of the storm. Ian was centered in the Fort Myers area, a stretch of coast that could see another heavy blow from Milton later this week.

Photo: Amanda Normand cleans up the home of Aiden Bowles who died in the home during flooding from Hurricane Helene on Oct. 2, in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

Topics Florida Windstorm