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SARASOTA: Many Florida residents have fled, but some battened down the hatches, in the final hours Wednesday before Hurricane Milton pummels the state, as government relief efforts were dragged into the thick of the White House race.
Ferocious winds and tidal surges are expected to inundate Florida’s heavily populated and low-lying Gulf Coast, with the cities of Tampa and Sarasota in the storm’s path, amid rising fears of widespread chaos and multiple fatalities.
Milton is then expected to barrel across the state as a hurricane, ripping a path over to the Atlantic Ocean, with tourist hub Orlando — home to Walt Disney World — in its sights.
In Sarasota, as the rain intensified, streets were increasingly deserted, with most businesses shuttered and sandbagged for protection. Residents sought refuge at evacuation centers.
“I am nervous. This is something we just went through with the other storm — ground saturated, still recovering from that,” Randy Prior, who owns a pool business, told AFP.
Prior, 36, says he plans to ride out the storm at home, after recently toughing out Helene, which flooded the same western parts of Florida before wreaking havoc across remote areas of North Carolina and further inland.
“I own a business, so once the storm stops, I’ve got to be here, help clean up, get everything back to normal. But this one’s a big one for sure.”
Tampa resident Luis Santiago meanwhile said he would “close up everything” and leave.
With the storm coming immediately after lethal Hurricane Helene hit the US southeast, Donald Trump has sought political advantage by falsely saying aid is channeled away from supporters of his Republican Party toward migrants.
At the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden slammed the Republican former president and current candidate’s “onslaught of lies.”
“There’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies,” Biden said in angry remarks.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is taking on Trump at the polls, echoed Biden’s criticisms in a separate telephone interview with CNN.
“It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly, that anyone who’d consider themselves a leader would mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled,” she said.
In Florida, officials again warned those in danger zones to seek safe shelter.
“You still have time to evacuate if you are in an evacuation zone,” Governor Ron DeSantis told a press briefing. “This hurricane is going to pack a major, major punch and do an awful lot of damage.”
But time was running out.
By Wednesday afternoon, Milton was located 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of Tampa, generating maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Multiple tornado warnings were in effect across Florida.
“Milton is expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida tonight, and remain at hurricane strength while it moves across the Florida peninsula through Thursday,” the NHC said.
“Preparations to protect life and property, including being ready for long-duration power outages, should be rushed to completion.”
Airlines added flights out of Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Sarasota, as highways clogged up with escaping traffic and gas station pumps ran dry.
Not all Floridians and tourists were hurrying to leave.
John Gomez, 75, traveled all the way from Chicago to try to save his Florida home.
“I think it’s better to be here in case something happens,” Gomez said.
At Walt Disney World in Orlando, which was expected to receive a big hit once Milton crosses the peninsula, visitors were getting a few rides in before the theme parks close shortly after midday.
“It’s safe and we’re here, so might as well,” said Lindsay Moore, 42, who flew in from Hawaii over the weekend.
“We thought about canceling but airlines wouldn’t let us.”
Trump has repeatedly fueled conspiracy theories and disinformation about supposed failure by Biden and Harris.
“Western North Carolina, and the whole state, for that matter, has been totally and incompetently mismanaged by Harris/Biden,” Trump said Wednesday on his Truth Social network.
“Hold on, and vote these horrible ‘public servants’ out of office.”
Scientists say global warming has a role in intense storms as warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, providing additional energy for storms, which exacerbates their winds.
Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Helene, which killed at least 235 people.