For a community that recently commemorated 20 years since Hurricane Charley, remembering two years since Hurricane Ian and receiving a beating from Hurricane Helene, another storm deemed “historic” isn’t on the wishlist.
But Hurricane Milton is on the radar.
The region’s schools have already closed for at least the first three days this week, and evacuations are being prepared.
Milton, slowly brewing for weeks as a sloppy tropical system off the Mexican coast, finally took shape over the weekend and quickly became a threat to Southwest Florida.
As of Sunday night, it is off the coast of the Yucatan, moving east about 7 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
“Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph with higher gusts,” as of Sunday night. “Milton is forecast to intensify rapidly during the next couple of days and become a major hurricane on Monday.”
A Hurricane Hunter aircraft found the minimum central pressure at 981 mb, it stated.
And while its landfall is to be determined, its threat is considerable.