Fourth storm in 14 months to hit West Florida. The most exposed citizens

Another day, another hurricane.

That may be the thought on the minds of thousands of Floridians as Hurricane Milton heads toward Florida’s west coast — the fourth hurricane in 14 months to target low-lying shores and inland areas.

The latest storm, which is expected to pack Category 4 winds, could make landfall somewhere near the heavily populated Tampa area by Wednesday night, two weeks after Hurricane Helene blanketed much of the area with unusually high waves.

By Sunday, Milton had triggered one of the largest evacuations of the populated region in years, according to news reports. But some areas were still working to clear Helene’s remaining debris, debris that could impede evacuation or lend flying objects to Milton’s 125 mph or higher winds. The Florida Department of Transportation has removed 53,000 cubic yards of debris in recent days, but there is more to come, the governor’s office said.

“We expect it to become a Category 4 by tonight or early tomorrow morning,” said Tyler Roys, meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. forecast trade, according to Bloomberg news service.

Pinellas County, which includes metropolitan St. Petersburg, is likely to issue mandatory evacuations for more than 500,000 people in low-lying areas on Monday, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told a news conference, Reuters news reported. Gaultieri urged people to follow evacuation orders after too many ignored them for Helene, which led to 12 deaths in the county and 1,500 911 calls that could not be answered.

Hurricane Milton’s rapid growth stems from warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which also intensified the deadly Helene. Roys said a ridge of high pressure setting temperature records in Phoenix and the Southwest is helping steer Milton on a west-to-east track across the Gulf. No storm has followed this path since 1900, Bloomberg reported.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an emergency declaration for 51 counties expected to be affected by the storm.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is expected to have the most policies in the impact area. The state-created insurer has about 115,000 residential policies in force in Pinellas County alone, which includes densely populated Clearwater and Treasure Island, according to figures from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Insured losses from Hurricane Helene, not including National Flood Insurance Program claims, are expected to be about $6.4 billion, according to hurricane modeling and analysis firm Karen Clark & ​​Co. Hurricane Ian, a stronger storm that made landfall in Southwest Florida in 2022, caused more than $50 billion in privately insured wind and flood losses.

So if Milton brings in somewhere between those totals, maybe $25 billion in damages, it will mean more than $34 billion in insured losses, mostly in Florida, just in the last 14 months.

“We’ve already been rebuilding for years from Hurricane Helene, and that will be exacerbated by the impact of this storm,” St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said, according to Reuters.

“Remember, Hurricane Helene was 100 miles away from us, moving in a different direction. This is a strong Cat 2 or Cat 3 hurricane heading straight for us.”

Florida’s citrus crops could take another hit, Reuters noted, citing the Commodity Weather Group.

Florida OIR reported that as of Oct. 4, Helene had produced more than 91,300 insurance claims. Hurricane Ian resulted in nearly 777,000 claims within 18 months of the storm. Ian was centered in the Fort Myers area, a stretch of coast that could see another heavy hit from Milton later this week.

Photo: Amanda Normand cleans the home of Aiden Bowles, who died in the home during flooding from Hurricane Helene on Oct. 2 in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

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Florida wind storm