Hurricane Milton is a monster. Last night, it’s barometric pressure dropped to 897. Hurricane Wilma, the strongest hurricane on record, had a central pressure of 882. Hurricane Andrew, which devastated Homestead in 1992, had a central pressure of 922.
Once it makes landfall, it will stretch out for 400 miles, so most of Florida will be impacted. But wherever on the west coast it makes landfall is going to experience storm surge from 10-15 feet. As one official said, “If you don’t evacuate, you die.”
Over the years I’ve lived here – off and on since 1963 -with interruptions for college and graduate school- I’ve lost track of how many hurricanes I’ve experienced. But they have gotten stronger, more ferocious, the gulf and the Atlantic are much warmer.
What we’re seeing is climate change. It’s here. It’s here in spite of our governor DeSantis deleting the words from all legislation.
