Hurricane Milton: Public Health Emergency Declared for Florida

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward the Florida coast, a Public Health Emergency has been declared across the state.

The PHE was declared on Tuesday by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to aid in the response to the hurricane’s impact.

It is the second PHE to be declared in the last few weeks, following the one declared ahead of Hurricane Helene’s landfall on September 26.

A PHE can be triggered by various factors, such as infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters, or other health-related emergencies, and signals the need for urgent action to address any health crisis. They allow governments to allocate and mobilize resources—such as funding, medical supplies, and personnel—to respond to an emergency more rapidly and effectively, giving health care providers more flexibility in meeting urgent health needs.

“We will do all we can to assist Florida officials with responding to the health impacts of Hurricane Milton,” Becerra said in a statement. “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.”

Hurricane Milton is forecast to make landfall near the Tampa Bay area this evening, bringing with it extremely powerful winds, intense rainfall, and catastrophic storm surges. The hurricane is currently a Category 5, with wind speeds of 160 mph.

“There is an area of heavy rain beginning to spread across portions of southwestern and west-central Florida out ahead of Milton, and weather conditions will steadily deteriorate across portions of the Florida Gulf Coast throughout the day,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a forecast advisory.

“The global models agree that vertical wind shear is expected to begin to increase over Milton later today, and that should cause some weakening,” it said. “However, there is high confidence that Milton will remain a very dangerous hurricane when it reaches Florida, and maintain hurricane status as it moves across the state.”

Hurricane-force winds will batter the state, bringing up to 15 feet of storm surge in some areas along the coast, including Tampa Bay. As much as 18 inches of rainfall is being forecast in certain regions, which is expected to cause flash flooding.

“A large area of destructive storm surge, with highest inundations of 10 ft or greater, is expected along a portion of the west-central coast of the Florida Peninsula. If you are in the Storm Surge Warning area, this is an extremely life-threatening situation, and you should evacuate as soon as possible if ordered by local officials,” the NHC urged.

“Milton is forecast to remain a hurricane while it crosses the Florida Peninsula and life-threatening hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, are expected to spread inland across the peninsula,” the NHC said. “Heavy rainfall across the Florida Peninsula through Thursday brings the risk of catastrophic and life-threatening flash and urban flooding along with moderate to major river flooding, especially in areas where coastal and inland flooding combine to increase the overall flood threat.”

In preparation for the hurricane, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has deployed approximately 100 responders across three Health Care Situational Assessment Teams and two Disaster Medical Assistance Teams from ASPR’s National Disaster Medical System.

Experts from an ASPR Incident Management Team and ASPR Regional Emergency Coordinators will also work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state health authorities, and emergency response officials.

“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,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said. “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.”

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