Hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes in Florida after the evacuation order issued by local authorities in view of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which could hit with tornadoes and waterspouts as early as tonight. An "extremely powerful hurricane", as meteorologists have called it, while Tampa Mayor Jane Castor appealed to residents via CNN: ''If you decide to stay in areas where the evacuation order has been issued, you will die.'' The National Hurricane Center has issued a warning for storm surges of up to 4.5 meters.
In a statement released by the White House, the U.S. government said it was "ready to respond to any potential impact on communities." Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly considering whether to cancel trips abroad scheduled for the next few days, to Germany, where he is scheduled to attend a major summit on Ukraine that he convened on Saturday, and to Angola. CNN notes that Biden's staff fears that the 'Milton effect' could hurt Democrats' election campaign, even after misinformation spread about the federal response to last week's Hurricane Helene and ''falsehoods repeated by former President Donald Trump''.
