Hurricane Milton is going to be a monster. Thankfully, at least for South Georgia, that monster is going to be contained within Florida.
Hurricane Milton intensified from a Category 1 storm to a Category 5 within a matter of hours, stunning storm watchers and meteorologists across the country. Milton is expected to make landfall in the Tampa area about 1 a.m. Thursday. Conditions in the path of the storm will begin to deteriorate Wednesday morning and officials are encouraging residents to be in a safe shelter by that time.
Hurricane Milton will bring deadly conditions to the communities in its path. High winds, heavy rain, and a dangerous storm surge are all expected. The storm should move in a northeasterly direction across Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean. Current models do not predict Milton making a turn and heading back to land.
The big question in all of this is, of course, what will Milton do to South Georgia? At the moment, officials do not expect much. Winds could gust to 25 mph and rainfall shouldn’t be more than a quarter of an inch. In normal circumstances, this would be relatively minor. However, there are still trees leaning and homes exposed in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. If you have trees leaning over your home, please take appropriate precautions as Milton nears land.
The only interruptions that Coffee County could see would be if sustained winds exceed 35 mph. According to current models, officials do not believe that will happen.