For the second time in two weeks, the federal government has declared a public health emergency for Florida as the monstrous Hurricane Milton barrels toward the state's Gulf Coast with winds in excess of 165 mph as of Tuesday afternoon.
Milton, a Category 5 hurricane, could make landfall Wednesday night in the Tampa Bay area, which has a population of more than 3.3 million. The 15 Florida counties under mandatory evacuation orders have a combined population of about 7.2 million people, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Milton is forecast to cross central Florida and dump as much as 18 inches of rain while heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center. That path would largely spare other states ravaged by Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26. That storm reportedly killed at least 230 people as it wound its way through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra declared the public health emergency, which followed President Joe Biden's emergency declaration Monday. It gives the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid recipients. The Biden administration has been slammed for its response to Helene, especially in western North Carolina.
"We will do all we can to assist Florida officials with responding to the health impacts of Hurricane Milton," Becerra said in a news release. "We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support."
HHS said in the news release the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) deployed approximately 100 responders to Florida, along with medical equipment and supplies. An ASPR incident management team and ASPR regional emergency coordinators are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), state health authorities, and emergency response officials to assist the state in meeting public health and medical needs.
HHS said ASPR also deployed three Health Care Situational Assessment Teams that will work with state officials to assess the storm's impacts on hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, and other health care facilities, and ASPR positioned two Disaster Medical Assistance Teams from its National Disaster Medical System for rapid response. Logistics and security personnel are pre-positioned to support the teams, HHS said, and additional medical personnel are on alert and ready to deploy if needed.
"While our medical teams continue to support hospitals and shelters in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene, we are also prepared to provide support to Florida communities following Hurricane Milton," said Dawn O'Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, in the news release. "Our teams are strategically positioned to go where needed in the state, and we have experts ready to support response and recovery requests in the coming days."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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