The scramble to flee Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton | First Thing

Floridians are clogging interstates in an effort to escape the path of Hurricane Milton as it intensifies. Plus: the Afghan women holding the Taliban accountable

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Good morning.

Hurricane Milton is barrelling toward Florida's west coast and is expected to make landfall as early as Wednesday night. An estimated 6 million people across 11 counties in Florida are now under mandatory evacuation orders, with time running out to make preparations. If you choose to stay ... you are going to die," said the Tampa mayor, Jane Castor.

How bad is Milton predicted to be? In barely a day, Milton went from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane, the strongest possible rating, with its winds hitting 180mph. Milton has the potential to become one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida", the National Hurricane Center said.

What are the hardships facing those evacuating? For some, fleeing home to avoid a disaster is simply not possible. The Federal Reserve has estimated that nearly 40% of Americans would not be able to cover a $400 emergency expense in cash, while a 2021 study found that people who evacuated from the Texas Coastal Bend during Hurricane Harvey spent about $1,200 on average on evacuating - more if they had to stay in hotels.

What have local officials done to ease evacuation efforts? Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, lifted tolls on major highways and ordered breakdown lanes open but traffic levels were still above 150% of normal, with accidents blocking some routes. Unfortunately every storm we see traffic fatalities because people wait until the last minute to leave," Florida's transportation secretary, Jared Perdue, said.

How has Trump responded to the allegations? Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, said: None of these madeup stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man ... clearly upset because President Trump is successfully suing him because of the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made previously."