The National Weather Service (NWS) in Miami has issued a tornado watch and multiple tornado warnings for parts of Florida as Hurricane Milton rapidly approaches west-central Florida.
On Wednesday morning, the NWS reported several tornadoes, including one that crossed Interstate 75, and urged residents to evacuate immediately.
A tornado watch is in effect until 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night and includes Miami, Key Largo, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, Jupiter Farms, Sebring, Sebastian, Sarasota, Northport, Cape Coral and Bonita Springs, the paper said. Covers part of South Florida. Agency.
As of 11 a.m. ET, three tornado warnings were also in effect. According to the NWS, a tornado watch is issued when a tornado is possible and a tornado warning is issued when a tornado is forming or is likely to occur.
mapVideos and photos posted online showed several spotted tornadoes growing in size as they moved across southern Florida.
The agency also warned that isolated hail of up to half an inch was possible and isolated wind gusts of up to 70 mph (112 kph) were possible. Approximately 12.6 million residents, along with 2,424 schools and 170 hospitals, could be exposed to the tornado.
Biden says Hurricane Milton is like the ‘storm of the century’ – video The tornado watches and warnings were issued as Hurricane Milton is expected to double in size as the “storm of the century” by the time it makes landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Florida continues to reel from widespread damage from Hurricane Helen several weeks ago, with the record-breaking storm expected to bring storm surge of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) along the state’s coast.
