Hurricane Milton: Thousands evacuate as Florida braces for once-in-a-century storm

While the storm had previously weakened, the US National Hurricane Centre says  Hurricane Milton is once again a Category 5 storm.

Transcript

00:00Florida is preparing for what could be one of the most destructive storms on record as

00:06Category 5 Hurricane Milton is forecast to hit the areas of Tampa and St. Petersburg.

00:13Milton brushed the shore of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early on Tuesday, knocking down

00:19power lines, light poles and trees before making its way towards the Florida coast.

00:27Police have ordered evacuations in Lago while residents in Venice stock up on sandbags to

00:32protect their homes.

00:35President Biden has postponed his planned trips to Germany and Angola and has urged

00:40people to follow local safety instructions.

00:43If you're under evacuation orders you should evacuate now, now, now. You should have already

00:48evacuated. It's a matter of life and death and that's not hyperbole. It's a matter of

00:53life and death.

00:55The storm comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the region and

01:01clean-up efforts continue to clear debris before it can be swept up and hurled by Milton's

01:06powerful storm surges.