'Life-threatening': Former Ottawa resident braces for Hurricane Milton in Florida

Bracing for the storm in Florida Former Ottawa resident Angelina Armstrong-Mercier-Mann talks about concerns and how she's preparing for Hurricane Milton in Florida.

As one of the most powerful hurricanes threatens to make landfall in Tampa Bay, residents brace for the impact.

Former Ottawa resident Angelina Armstrong, who lives in Lithia, Florida, told CTV Morning Live Wednesday they've been preparing for the worst from Hurricane Milton for a week.

"We took all of the advice that our governor have told us to do," she said, from her home 20 miles from Tampa.

"We knew we needed water, we knew we needed to stock up on fuel -- that was something we were a little behind last year. This year, we're on top of the game."

She adds that she's also cleared any objects from her backyard that could fly during the hurricane.

"The home itself should be able to withstand the high winds," she added.

While some zones are more prone to flooding depending on the proximity to the coast, her home should be safe given its location, she says. Armstrong says her zone is not under an evacuation order. However, her main concern is the wind and power outage.

It was humid and rainy Wednesday morning, Armstrong said as she was describing the weather where she is.

As buildings were being boarded up in Clearwater, Jenny McKaig Speed got out after hearing from a local meteorologist to prepare for the worst.

"And when I said to a friend of mine, 'please bring the girls life jackets over here.' I was like, 'okay, I'm preparing for the worst,'" she said.

McKaig Speed previously lived in Kingston. Her family is now safe in Georgia after finally finding fuel.

"We were stopped on the highway and every gas station. As we did progress, there was just no gas," she said.

"By some miracle there was a gas station with literally one pump."

Hurricane Milton is a Category 4 storm forecast and will bring extreme flooding, high winds and heavy rain to the central west coast of Florida Wednesday.

It is described by some climatologists as the most powerful hurricanes to hit Tampa Bay in a hundred years, describing it as "dangerous, scary and life-threatening," according to Environment Canada's senior climatologist, David Phillips.

Milton had been Category 5 Monday, which is the top end of the scale, he said.

Phillips says the hurricane is supposed to move in the northeast direction towards the central coast of Florida Wednesday. He adds it’s likely to make a landfall Thursday morning, which calls for storm warnings, before becoming a hurricane by the afternoon. Residents in its path have been told to evacuate the area or risk facing deadly conditions.

"As it moves inland, it will become more of a hurricane during the day," he said. "It could be a hurricane right across the peninsula of Florida. But that is the Gulf of Mexico side, right to the Atlantic side."

He adds that the storm surge is "concerning," noting to the possibility of flash flooding and tornadoes. He says the anticipated rainfall totals are from 125 to 450 millimetres.

While people didn't necessarily heed the warnings that were made ten days ago when Hurricane Helene hit the same area, they are right now, Phillips said.

Hurricane Milton comes ten days after the same area was hit by Hurricane Helene.

With files from CTV National's Luca Caruso-Moro and CTV Ottawa's Katie Griffin