Hurricane Milton Poised for Massive Disruption as “Once in a Century” Storm Approaches Florida

October 8, 2024

Author: Julia Hazel, PhD  

Weeks after Hurricane Helene’s Devasting Wake, Hurricane Milton Bears Down on Florida 

Hurricane Milton is poised to slam into Florida’s west-central coast only a few short weeks after Hurricane Helene came ashore and left a trail of damage and destruction across the Southeast U.S. The storm is being called the strongest storm in a century.  As of early Wednesday afternoon, the outer bands of Milton have already started slamming the Florida peninsula, leading to over 60 tornado warnings.   

The rapid intensification of Milton has been unusual, morphing from a tropical storm last Sunday to a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained wind gusts of 160 mph Monday morning.  

Although Milton is expected to encounter strong vertical wind shear, causing it to weaken prior to landfall overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning, it is still projected to reach Florida’s coast as a major Category 3 or 4 strength hurricane at landfall.  Milton will maintain hurricane strength as it crosses central Florida, and expected impacts of powerful wind gusts and extended power outages across the region are being compared to Hurricane Charley in 2004 and Hurricane Irma in 2017.  According to the National Hurricane Center, “Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.”  

In addition, although the maximum sustained winds of Milton have decreased and will continue to weaken through Wednesday evening, the nature of this weakening will not reduce impacts from threats such as storm surge.  Weakening will also lead the storm to grow, expanding the radius of impact.   

Aside from winds, storm surge is of major concern, as storm surge leads to half of all hurricane-related deaths.  Storm surge impacts are highly dependent on the angle and precise location of a hurricane’s eyewall.  Forecasts currently call for 10-15 ft of surge just south of where the eye of the storm makes landfall, which would be the worst levels seen in a century.  To put it in perspective, this forecasted urge is double that of Helene’s storm surge a few weeks ago that led to major devastation in the Tampa Bay region. 

Airlines and Ports Begin Closures 

 Hurricane Milton will no doubt lead to massive disruption this week and in the weeks ahead.  Tampa Bay International, St Pete-Clearwater International, and Orlando International airports have already begun closures that will remain in place until it is safe and any potential damage is assessed.   

Even though most oil and gas refineries in the Gulf are out of the path of Milton, restrictions to port and vessel navigation at most of Florida’s ports could lead to disruption of exports and imports.   

Nearly 2 Million Businesses In the Path of Hurricane Milton: Aerospace Technology, Automotive Manufacturing and Medical Device Sectors Brace for Impact 

Using Interos data, over 1.9 million businesses are identified that could potentially experience sustained winds of over 60 mph from Milton.   

These companies represent over 1,000 unique industries, underscoring the widespread impact that will be felt by this storm.   

Milton is forecast to take a similar track to Hurricane Ian, whipping across central and the east coast of Florida while remaining hurricane strength.  Like Ian, impacts to aerospace technology, automotive manufacturing,  chemicals and plastic, as well as the producers in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries can be expected.    

   

Using Interos data, over 200 companies in the Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing industry are identified to be in the moderate to high wind-impact zones from Ian as well as several dozen companies in the Aircraft Engine and Engine Parts Manufacturing industries.   

The wide array of industry impacts from Milton will also be felt at the product level. Interos data identifies 385 product categories that may be affected based on businesses in path of Milton.  These product categories are comprised of numerous specific products that reflect those industries most likely to have the greatest impacts from Milton.  The most prevalent product categories are articles of plastic and electric control and distribution apparatuses. 

Get In Front of Supply Chain Disruptions with Alerts

As extreme weather events like hurricane Helene and Milton become increasingly commonplace, embracing global, real-time hazard monitoring solutions like Interos’ catastrophic risk technology are crucial for proactively deterring and mitigating supply chain disruptions.   

Dr Thomas Runkle, VP, Supply Chain at Cooper University Health Care used Interos to avoid disruptions to their medical supply chain prior to a devastating hurricane in 2023. “Reacting just doesn’t work anymore.” You have to be proactive and get ahead of an event.   

Interos risk alerts provided both the speed and the alerts needed to get in front of costly disruptions.  

Take control of supply chain disruptions before they escalate: speak to an expert today.   

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