Monday Hurricane Milton Update: Tampa Area Still In Storm’s Path

The Monday morning data from the National Hurricane Center is in. Hurricane hunters have reported that winds are now at 120MPH at the storm's center. Greg Dee from ABC Action News says a Category 3 major hurricane is still expected to make landfall Wednesday. Some models, however, have Milton's arrival early Thursday.

Hurricane watches this morning have been issued for the west coast of Florida. But Greg points out that hurricane force winds should only extend to about 25 miles from the eye. Everyone else will see tropical storm force winds and a lot of rain. Denis Phillips posted this morning that the worst of the wind will be between Tampa and Sarasota. He adds the chances for a significant change in track is dropping the closer we get to landfall.

Where the storm makes landfall is key. For Tampa Bay, if the storm's center passes north of the Bay in Pinellas or Pasco County, it'd be the worst case scenario for Tampa Bay area residents. Greg says if this happens, we could see surge levels 5 feet higher than they were for Helene. But if landfall is south of the Tampa area, it'd be a complete opposite result where we'd actually see a drop in water levels.

Hurricane Milton will has a lot of characteristics that make it differ from Helene. This storm will go across the state of Florida instead of heading north 100 miles off our coastline. That means those who didn't see much activity inland during Helene won't have it as easy this time.

Also with Hurricane Helene, there was a high degree of certainty in terms of its path and strength. With Milton, the point of landfall and the strength of the storm is still uncertain. We know there will be heavy winds and rain. There will be power outages. But where Milton makes landfall will make a world of difference for your neighborhood.

Greg urgently insisted this morning that residents in the Tampa area pay close attention to evacuation orders. We have all day today and a good part of tomorrow to prepare and make plans. To see the latest list of evacuations, visit this page.

Denis Phillips and his entire ABC Action News team of weather experts will be joining us on air and online throughout the week with the newest information. The next update from the National Hurricane Center on Hurricane Milton is coming at 11AM.

ABC Action News weather guru Denis Phillips recently shared a few dozen tips to get you through a hurricane. We've been really lucky so far this hurricane season in Florida, but we know our time will come. When it does, preparation is key. And Denis came up with some tips that might make your experience a lot less miserable. Here are 10 of my favorites. Some are common sense. But others are pretty creative ideas to get through the storm with less stress.

Denis points out that without air conditioning, anything dirty will start to stink your place up! And when the AC goes out, you'll want clean sheets because you'll be sweating a lot!

When you know the storm's coming charge up those laptops, and OLD phones... not just the one you use now. Old phones call still call 911!

Use that water to flush toilets.

Freeze cooked food too. Denis says he loves a hardboiled egg as a snack on that first day without power.

Stuff all your important stuff in a backpack so it's easy to grab in case you need to leave quickly.

If power goes out for a while or systems go down, it'll be good to have some cash on hand.

This is certainly one I wouldn't have thought of doing... but it makes sense. Higher temps in the room will lower the temp in your fridge to preserve those foods longer.

Hit the shower just before the storm's about to hit.

Unplug your electronics because there will likely be power surges.

If the coin stayed on top after the power went out, your food stayed frozen!

I know if you have water to flush your toilet with, you're good, however, not every toilet will flush, even with water, and you might need an additional toilet, especially if you have others staying with you, so the best home made port-o-potty I've ever seen is really easy. Take a bucket, like a Home Depot or Lowes type bucket🪣, fill it with a garbage bag and about 1/4 to 1/2 full with kitty litter. Then take a pool koozy and slice it down one side, half way through. Place the koozy around the top of the bucket and cut it to fit the top of the bucket just right. Put a roll of toilet paper on the handle of the bucket and wha-lah, you've got a relatively comfortable, durable port-o-potty. When it gets full, pull out the garbage bag and replace it with another and fill it about 1/4 to 1/2 with litter and you're all set.