When Milton achieved hurricane status, it marked the first time there have been three hurricanes swirling simultaneously in the Atlantic, said Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach. Hurricanes Leslie and Kirk were far out at sea and not immediately threatening land.

And why are there 3 active hurricanes in the Atlantic - for the first time in recorded history? What's causing all of this to happen now?

As of 1pm Eastern, Milton is now packing winds of 175 mph.

Simply friggin' wow. We humans are such tiny players when it comes to Mother Nature.

Is this our new normal, and if so, how are the Florida coasts going to remain habitable for human-built structures and life?

But Tony be careful the words "global climate change" have been banned by our governor.

Yeah, the fact that Gulf hurricanes now go from tropical storm wind velocities to 175 mph in 24 hours is simply Mother Nature becoming more efficient in her development abilities, right?

Doesn't have anything to do with the bathtub water temperatures in the Gulf, elevated due to man-caused factors?

Naw, it's simply gawd's will. He's just building bigger and better storms, that's all. Get used to it.

5pm EDT update: Milton's winds are up to 180 mph.

Is this monstrosity headed over 200 mph?

West Coast Floridians get the hell out of Dodge as quickly as possible.

It maybe off, but he appears driven.

#40

I had a quick discussion with a neighbor while we were walking our dogs. I mentioned that I can't believe anyone can't see the evidence of man-caused factors driving the extreme weather events we're experiencing. I referenced that the waters in the Gulf are 86 degrees currently when their historical average on the same date has been 78. First thing out of his mouth was that we've had extreme hurricanes before, and it really kind of shocked me. I'm 65 years old and there's never been back-to-back landfalling Category 4-5 storms hit the US only 2 weeks apart, and almost in the exact same places. I've also never seen multiple hurricanes go from tropical storms to Cat 4/5 in 24-36 hours as storms are doing today.

I don't understand why people think their subjective opinions carry more truth than objective math and science. Researchers who warned us of our warming planet and how our weather events would become more extreme were not then and are not now articulating a political view. They're articulating what math, science, research and data tell them.

And with today's unprecedented entrance of storm preparedness and response into the cauldron of partisan politics, there's no denial of why skepticism has found a home in the Republican Party. It's just another way to falsely discredit hardworking Americans trying their best to educate and protect people facing the prospect of weather disrupting lives that have taken decades to build and wiping them away in a matter of minutes due to extreme weather events.

#43

He's had the most experience in hurricane response and fortunately Florida has created the muscle memory needed to help their citizens constantly facing strings of disruptive storms.

But the insurance bomb is getting ready to explode with a force greater than Milton's intensification. Insurance providers simply cannot take the losses from Florida's cycle of stronger than usual hurricanes. And for those not wealthy, the cost to live there is climbing far higher than a majority can afford if faced with having to repair or replace homes and apartments over and over again, not to mention where will all the displaced be housed should there be unprecedented widespread storm damage across a broad swaths of densely populated areas.