With just days until Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on the Western coast of the Florida peninsula, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is prepositioning life-saving resources in the state.
The dispatch of ambulances, search and rescue teams and emergency food and water comes as FEMA continues response and recovery operations in six Southeastern states just ten days after Hurricane Helene caused at least 227 fatalities and billions in damage.
“It’s an all-of-federal-government response,” FEMA Acting Director of Response and Recovery Keith Turi said Monday during a press briefing about the preparations. He emphasized that FEMA has enough funding to respond to both hurricanes simultaneously.
FEMA said 900 of its staff are already deployed and operating in parts of Florida affected by Hurricanes Helene, Debby and Idalia. To help with Milton, FEMA has sent six incident management assistance teams, five urban search and rescue teams, three U.S. Coast Guard swift water rescue teams, four healthcare system assessment teams and two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers temporary power teams and debris experts, as well as wastewater experts from the Environmental Protection Agency.
It has also prepositioned 300 ambulances and 30 high water vehicles with ladders.
FEMA said it has 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water available to deploy if necessary in the response and recovery efforts for Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is flying so-called "hurricane hunter" aircraft into the storm to gather information. NOAA Weather Service Director Ken Grant said the hurricane’s winds are currently traveling at 170 miles per hour and moving east at 5 miles per hour.
“It’s one of the strongest storms we’ve had in the Atlantic basin. This is not a good situation. It is a very serious situation,” Grant said, adding that people have until Wednesday morning to prepare, at which point it will be too dangerous to be outside or driving.
High winds are expected on the western coast of Florida Wednesday morning, with the full impact arriving Wednesday evening. Grant said the storm is expected to drop heavy, but not catastrophic, rains. Central parts of the state could see up to eight inches of rain with coastal areas receiving up to 15 inches.
Grant said manufactured homes and RVs will be especially vulnerable to the winds and rain.
FEMA stressed that anyone who has been ordered to evacuate should do so.
“Take this extremely seriously. Time to prepare is running out,” Turi said, adding that evacuations can take place tens of miles away to higher ground, not hundreds of miles.
President Joe Biden approved Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for an emergency declaration on Monday, the White House said. That declaration allows FEMA to provide federal support directly to states for evacuation, sheltering and search and rescue.
FEMA is coordinating with the staff for Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who was set to meet with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell late Monday.
The agency is also working with the State of Florida to expedite the removal of debris from Hurricane Helene before Hurricane Milton makes landfall. In Tampa, state-run debris management sites are operating 24 hours a day with contracted trucks. Gov. DeSantis has tasked many of the 4,000 active-duty National Guard in the state to help with debris removal.
“Having back-to-back storms is clearly a challenge,” Turi said. “The debris from Helene has not been fully picked up.”
Still, he said the debris was less of a consideration than the impending storm surge, heavy rain and extreme wind.
“Right now, he said, “the thing we can all do is focus on life safety.”