The Good Morning America team is in Florida before the hurricane makes landfall
Ginger Zee and the rest of the ABC News climate and meteorology team are braving the heavy wind and rain in Florida as they report on the impending landfall of Hurricane Milton.
The 43-year-old anchor, the network’s Chief Meteorologist, appeared on Good Morning America to share updates from the state, which is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Helene.
The mom-of-two took to Instagram to share a final update from her trip to Fort Myers Beach to share one last look at the coastline, a calm before the storm of sorts (quite literally) which will soon be hit by an 8-12 foot storm surge, per Ginger, before the entire crew wraps up and evacuates as well.
“This is it… time for us to leave – last moment for movement as Milton less than 190 miles w/sw of us here in fort Myers,” she explained. “It will make landfall to our north but impacts will be huge from Tampa to here.”
Fans urged the meteorologist to stay safe and quickly take cover. “Thank you so much for your excellent reporting Ginger! Now go get somewhere safe!” one said, with another also adding: “Praying for these folks and please stay safe.”
What has Ginger said about the storm surges?
In a recent segment for ABC News, for the uninitiated, Ginger broke down more of what a storm surge can look like and what to expect with Milton.
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“A storm surge is basically water piling up along the shore ahead of and inside the hurricane,” she explained. “As the hurricane closes in on land, the strong winds push that water towards the coast, and it has nowhere left to go but up and inland, sometimes as high as 20 feet.”
Her latest update on social media read: “Hurricane force gusts only extend 35 miles outside the center. So worst surge will be more concentrated than in Helene. Some slowing will happen just before landfall tonight. Dry air and wind shear doing their best to tamp down the hurricane.”
What is the latest on Hurricane Milton?
Officials reported earlier on Wednesday that Hurricane Milton, which was marked as a Category 4 storm this morning after spending much of the day prior as Category 5, is charging through the Gulf of Mexico to Florida.
© Getty ImagesThe main areas hit will be in the Tampa Bay region, which houses a population of nearly 3.3 million that have been ordered to evacuate.
Several airports have shut down after providing scores of extra seats and emergency flights to help residents leave, and mile-long traffic jams have brought roads to a standstill.
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Per the National Hurricane Center in their latest update, Milton is “growing in size as it moves closer to the West Coast of Florida” and “life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains expected across portions of Central and Southwestern Florida.”
© Getty Images