Florida braced for Hurricane Milton, which strengthened again Tuesday to a Category 5 storm, as President Joe Biden urged residents to flee, warning of what could be the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century.
As the second major hurricane in two weeks approached Florida's west coast, residents were anxious about the impending disaster as they rushed to fortify their homes and flee.
"This is a matter of life and death, and that's not an exaggeration," Biden said from the White House, urging those under evacuation orders to "evacuate immediately, immediately, immediately."
Biden's warnings came amid a pre-election debate in which Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris criticized her election rival, Donald Trump, for spreading false allegations that Republicans were being denied a share of the recovery effort from Hurricane Helen, which hit the region late last month.
As of Tuesday, Milton was reclassified as a Category 5 hurricane on a five-step scale, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (270 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.
"There will likely be some changes in intensity as Milton crosses the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but it is expected to be a major, dangerous hurricane when it makes landfall on the west-central Florida coast Wednesday night," the center said.
At a news conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis listed a wide range of towns and counties at risk.
"The entire peninsula of Florida is under some form of watch or warning," he said.
Airlines have scheduled extra flights out of Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Sarasota, with traffic jams on the way out of the state and fuel running out at gas stations.
Floods
Hurricane expert Michael Lowry warned that the sea level rise from Milton in the Tampa area, which has a population of about three million, "could double the water levels recorded two weeks ago when Hurricane Helen hit," causing major flooding.
Biden has postponed trips to Germany and Angola to oversee the federal response, as the rescue effort has become a political battleground ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
Trump has exploited the discontent over the emergency response to Hurricane Helen, spreading misinformation, including that funds allocated for the disaster were being used to support migrants.
Biden on Tuesday denounced Trump's comments as "un-American," while presidential candidate Harris warned of the danger that such misinformation poses to the federal response.
In an interview with Stephen Colbert, she called Trump's comments "crude." "Don't you have any empathy for other people's suffering? Don't you have any sense of purpose when you're claiming to be a leader?" she added.
In a scene repeated across Florida, dozens of cars lined up at sports facilities in Tampa as residents sought sandbags to protect their homes from flooding.
John Gomez, 75, ignored government guidelines and came from Chicago to protect his second home in Florida.
"I think I'd better be here if something happens," he said as he waited in line.
Global warming
Scientists point to global warming as a factor in the frequency of severe storms, as warmer ocean temperatures create more steam that fuels storms and their accompanying winds.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released video Tuesday from a specialized aircraft called Miss Piggy as it entered the hurricane zone to collect data.
Papers, equipment and personal belongings in the plane were blown away by the turbulence caused by the wind and rain.
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