TAMPA, Fla –
Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Tuesday but remained a ferocious storm that could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on the populous Tampa Bay region with towering storm surges and turn debris from Helene’s devastation 12 days ago into projectiles.
Almost the entirety of Florida’s west coast was under a hurricane or tropical storm warning as the storm and its 145 mph (230 km/h) winds spun just off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, creeping toward the state and sucking energy from the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters. With the storm expected to remain fairly strong as it crosses Florida, parts of the eastern coast were put under hurricane warnings early Tuesday, as well.
Milton’s centre could come ashore Wednesday night in the Tampa Bay area, which has a population of more than 3.3 million people. The county that’s home to Tampa ordered evacuations for areas adjacent to the bay and for all mobile and …