WORST HIT IN 100 YEARS
Florida authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders for areas including some parts of Tampa, a metropolitan area of more than three million people that could take a direct hit.
“If the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact the Tampa area in over 100 years,” the National Weather Service said.
A major storm surge for Florida’s west coast is forecast for Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and Tampa could suffer an influx of water up to 4.5m above ground.
Rainfall of up to 38cm is expected to cause severe flash flooding.
In the central city of Orlando, under gray skies, hundreds of cars lined up to collect sandbags.
“We might evacuate, me and my pets, we might go to Georgia,” Tony Carlson, 32, told AFP. “People think it’s going to be pretty bad.”
Maria Torres, 29, said her family was not planning to leave, but had prepared with a generator, food and water.
