There have never been such terrible hurricanes as Milton heading for Florida — forecaster

The approaching hurricane Milton on the Florida coast will be unprecedented, there has never been such a strong one. This was stated by the head of the Meteo prognostic center, Alexander Shuvalov, in an interview with RT.

The Milton is now approaching the west coast of Florida. Moreover, a hurricane can be assigned the sixth level of danger, although the existing Saffir—Simpson hurricane scale (SSHS) has only five degrees.

"The hurricane has never seen such speeds before. From the complex of speed and intensity of dangerous influences, a hurricane is expected to be stronger than Hurricane Katrin, which struck in 2005," he noted. "Due to global climate change, the frequency and intensity of such phenomena is only increasing."

According to the SSHS, at the fifth degree, the sustained wind speed for one minute is more than 252 km per hour. This leads to the complete destruction of the roofs of many residential and industrial buildings, as well as to the complete destruction of some buildings, small buildings are demolished. Irreparable damage to many wooden frame structures and the complete destruction of mobile and industrial houses prevail. Only some types of structures can survive if they are located at a distance of at least 5-8 km from the coast. These include office buildings, apartment buildings and hotels that have a solid concrete or steel frame structure, multi-storey concrete garages and residential buildings built of reinforced concrete bricks or concrete-cement blocks, and if the windows are made of safe glass, resistant to hurricanes, or shuttered.

Storm flooding causes serious damage to the lower floors of all buildings near the coastline, and many coastal structures can be washed away by storm surge. Almost all trees are uprooted or broken. If a hurricane threatens populated areas, mass evacuation may be required. Power outages and water losses are expected for up to several months.

As EADaily reported, due to the impending hurricane, US President Joe Biden on October 7 signed an order declaring an emergency in Florida and instructed local authorities to provide federal assistance. The hurricane will make landfall today or tomorrow.