Son arrested in the murder of his father, stepmom and stepbrother: Police
Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images
(PAWLET, Vt.) — A son has been arrested for the murder of his father, his father’s wife and her teenage son, who were found shot to death at their Vermont home, police announced Friday.
The triple homicide was discovered early Sunday. Officers responded to a report of a “suspicious person” and the investigation led them to a home in the town of Pawlet, Vermont State Police said.
Inside they found the three deceased victims — Brian Crossman Sr., 46, who was a Pawlet government official; his wife, Erica Crossman, 41; and her son and his stepson, Colin Taft, 13, police said. They were killed sometime early Sunday morning inside their home, police said.
Crossman Sr.’s son — Brian Crossman Jr., 23, of Granville, New York — now faces counts of aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shootings of his father, stepmother and stepbrother, Vermont State Police said Friday.
“The Vermont State Police investigation identified significant evidence that linked Crossman Jr. to the killings, including digital information, statements, injuries, and various interviews,” Vermont State Police said in a statement.
New York State Police located Crossman Jr. and took him into custody. He is being detained without bail pending an appearance before a judge in New York to initiate proceedings for his extradition to Vermont, police said.
Police have not released any details on an alleged motive in the killings.
He was set to appear in court in Glens Falls, New York, Friday afternoon. It is unclear if he has an attorney at this time.
It is unclear when he will return to Vermont, police said.
All three family members died from gunshot wounds and their deaths have been ruled as homicides by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, police said. Crossman Sr. was shot in the head and torso, Erica Crossman was shot in the head and her son had multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Crossman Sr. had joined the Pawlet Select Board this year, where he served as a liaison to buildings and development and to the town’s highway department, according to the town’s website.
Pawlet Select Board Chair Mike Beecher remembered him as a “friend and neighbor” and a “hardworking community member.”
“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving,” Beecher said in a statement Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss. The town of Pawlet will work to get through this as we always get through hard times, by supporting each other and doing our best to carry on.”
Pawlet, a town of about 1,400 people, is located in western Vermont on the New York state line.
(NEW YORK) — The next great sky show is coming late Sunday evening, and it is forecast to be one of the most awe-inspiring shooting star displays of 2024.
Appearing annually between late July and mid-August, the Perseid meteor shower is expected to reach its peak on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 11, and before dawn on Monday, Aug. 12, according to NASA.
Marking one of the most plentiful meteor showers in the Northern Hemisphere, the Perseids showcase approximately 50 to 100 meteors per hour, NASA reports.
In addition to the plentiful showcase, the Perseids — which get their name from the constellation Perseus — are famous for bringing fireballs, bright colors and long meteor tails to the night sky.
“Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak,” according to NASA.
Skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere, from the equator to mid-latitudes, will still get a glimpse of the shower, though it will be less pronounced than in the north.
Unfortunately, the agency notes that viewing the meteor shower this year will be “slightly impacted” by the Moon, which will be waxing at 53% in its cycle, lending more brightness in the sky to take away from the view.
The best time to view the Perseids will be past Midnight and it will become more pronounced as the sky darkens, according to NASA.
Additionally, those viewing the shower in remote locations, away from city lights, will have the best chance at a clear view, NASA says.
So, where do the Perseids come from and why do they appear annually?
Meteors are produced from comet particles and debris from broken asteroids. When comets and asteroids navigate around the Sun, they create a train of dust and debris in their wake.
Each year, the Earth rotates through the trail of debris, allowing it to impact the atmosphere and become visible to the naked eye.
A school sign is seen on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, Calif., in August 2023. — Mike Levine/ABC News
(BERKELEY, Calif.) — Two weeks ago, as college students returned to campus at the University of California, Berkeley, some of the most senior officials in the FBI were huddling inside a nondescript conference room beneath the stands of the school’s football stadium.
“Here’s where the rubber meets the road,” one of the FBI officials told the group of law enforcement officials, academics, tech developers, venture capitalists, and crime victims.
The problem they’re trying to solve, according to officials, is that the FBI is losing its ability to fight some of the greatest threats facing Americans, because phones and other electronic devices are increasingly being designed with no way for authorities to access their contents when the law authorizes them to collect evidence regarding suspected crimes — including those committed by radical terrorists, fentanyl dealers and online child predators.
It’s hardly a new problem.
“[It’s] the same conversation we had yesterday, five years ago, and 10 years ago, and 15 years ago, and now 20 years ago,” a professor told the group. “There’s something depressing about that. … We keep making the same goddamn mistakes over and over again.”
That’s why the FBI has taken the unusual step of turning to an academic institution for help. And not just any academic institution, but Berkeley — considered to be the birthplace of the Free Speech and student protest movements of the 1960s.
“To their credit, they were willing to think outside the box,” former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who now runs a center at Berkeley focused on security, said of the FBI.
‘A historic milestone’
A generation ago, such a partnership would have seemed unthinkable. In the 1950s and ’60s, in the midst of the Cold War, the FBI reportedly targeted a wide swath of Berkeley professors and students with surveillance and other secret tactics, convinced that radical Communists were among them.
Now, however, the FBI is battling a very different set of threats — and a new generation of advanced technologies.
Last year, the FBI signed an agreement with Napolitano’s center, the Center for Security in Politics, vowing to exchange resources and technology related expertise in a shared effort to support the FBI’s mission.
In a press release at the time, Napolitano touted the arrangement as “the first collaboration of its kind” and “a historic milestone for both institutions.”
The meeting two weeks ago was one of the first in-person gatherings to come out of the agreement.
The gathering involved three sessions spread over two days, and ABC News was allowed to observe the closing session on the condition that it not name any of the speakers.
One FBI official framed the final session by noting that while the FBI brings “enormous resources to bear” in significant or high-profile cases, “we don’t have the people, we don’t have the financial resources to do that” in the many thousands of other cases the FBI pursues each day.
“[That] is why we need to work with our private sector partners to have a lawful-access solution for our garden-variety cases,” the FBI official said during the session.
Instead of trying to address the many types of threats investigated by the FBI, the summit focused on just one: finding ways to stop child exploitation and the spread of sexual abuse material online.
“I think there’s a universal recognition that that stuff is bad, and we need to figure out a way to better deal with it,” Napolitano told ABC News.
‘A really egregious trend’
More children than ever are being exploited online, as predators use newer technologies like live-streaming apps, online video games and advanced messaging platforms to solicit sexual material from them, according to Abbigail Beccaccio, who heads the FBI’s section focused on violent crimes against children.
Beccaccio told ABC News there’s been a significant shift in these cases as they’ve exploded in number.
While the FBI had long seen cases of “traditional sextortion,” when predators with a sexual interest in young girls trick them into sharing explicit images of themselves, the FBI has in recent years seen a “huge uptick” in so-called “financially motivated sextortion” targeting boys, Beccaccio said.
In such cases, the victims are tricked into sharing sexually explicit images of themselves — but “that’s where the scheme turns,” said Beccaccio. Armed with the compromising material, the perpetrator then threatens the victim with claims of, “If you don’t send me money, I will ruin your life, I will send this to all your friends and family,” Beccaccio said.
In less than 18 months, from October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI counted more than 12,600 victims of such schemes — a “huge” and “shocking number,” as Beccaccio put it.
She said she knows of cases where children even dipped into their college savings accounts to pay the criminals who targeted them. But worst of all, she said, “We began to see a really egregious trend in suicides.”
Beccaccio said that helps illustrate why she and her FBI colleagues are so adamant that law enforcement needs some way to access criminals’ devices when a judge authorizes it.
“Without lawful access, we lose the ability to obtain the information we need to prosecute the offenders and rescue these child victims,” she warned.
The public, she said, should find that “troubling.”
‘A very dark place’
A decade ago, as highly-encrypted phone apps became commonplace, the FBI tried to engage the public in a national conversation about the future of lawful access. Then-FBI director James Comey warned that “going dark” by losing lawful access to personal data would lead to law enforcement agencies “missing out” on chances to stop “some very dangerous people.”
“Criminals and terrorists would like nothing more than for us to miss out,” he warned during an October 2014 speech in Washington, D.C. “Encryption threatens to lead all of us to a very dark place.”
The issue came to a head a year later, when for several months the FBI was unable to unlock an Apple iPhone left behind by one of ISIS-inspired terrorists who killed 14 people and injured nearly two dozen others during an attack in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015.
There were congressional hearings held on the issue, and the FBI even took the matter to federal court, seeking to force Apple to find a way for authorities to access the phone’s content. The case became moot after an Israeli security company found a way to unlock the perpetrator’s phone.
“It’s so seductive to talk about privacy as the ultimate value,” Comey told a House panel in March 2016. “[But] in a society where we aspire to be safe and have our families safe and our children safe, that can’t be. We have to find a way to accommodate both.”
But the FBI’s public campaign over lawful access appeared to lose steam after FBI leadership become engulfed in a controversy surrounding the 2016 presidential election and Comey was fired as the agency’s director in May 2017.
Now — more than seven years later — the FBI is trying to spark the conversation again.
Katie Noyes, the head of the FBI’s next-generation technology section, said that in a survey of the FBI’s field offices last year, the bureau identified nearly 17,000 active cases that were either stalled or missing key evidence due to “warrant-proof encryption.”
Just two months ago, as the FBI struggled to determine why a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, Abbate, the deputy director, told lawmakers that the shooter had used encrypted applications and that, more than two weeks after the shooting, the FBI was still unable “to get information back because of their encrypted nature.”
“We need a solution that provides lawful access to law enforcement,” Abbate implored lawmakers during a Senate hearing on the assassination attempt.
So the FBI is turning to Napolitano and her team at Berkeley for help.
‘Waiting for the market’
The summit at Berkeley was led by Napolitano’s team and an array of FBI officials, including deputy director Abbate; Jeff Fields, the head of counterintelligence at the FBI’s San Francisco field office; and members of the agency’s technology units.
Victims of online sexual exploitation, including a woman whose likeness appeared in a “deepfake” video that went viral, also shared their stories and perspectives.
“What was really wonderful about this convening was having really disparate points of view around the same table,” Noyes told ABC News, adding that some of the tech companies and venture capitalists there said they had never heard directly from victims before.
The group got into an impassioned debate over whether tech companies, especially global giants such as Apple and Meta — neither of whom participated in the summit — would ever voluntarily redesign their devices and platforms to ensure that law enforcement could access them with a court order.
One law enforcement official noted that the FBI spoke with the companies a decade ago, but they had little interest in having a conversation about changing their ways.
“Waiting for the market here is not going to get it done,” said another law enforcement official, insisting that the only thing that will bring change is Congress passing a new law.
Others rejected that view, saying that the point of holding the summit is to potentially find other ways to address the problem.
“There hasn’t been much movement at all, but on the other hand the technology has changed,” Napolitano told ABC News after the summit. “And so there may be better and more available ways for government — meaning law enforcement — to get around some of the traditional barriers to lawful access, and those were part of the discussions today.”
‘What’s next?’
Noyes emphasized that she and her colleagues at the FBI are “big fans of encryptions” for personal security and privacy — and that the FBI is not trying to expand or change what it’s legally allowed to do.
As she described it, the FBI just wants ensure that law enforcement maintains the type of access that it has long used to bring criminals to justice.
“There’s no discussion around a request for any additional authority,” she said. “In many cases we have had this access, and it has been removed or taken away over time” due to newer technology.
According to Noyes, the summit produced a number of ideas and proposed approaches.
Some participants suggested that an independent third party could hold a technology company’s access keys in “escrow,” so those keys would not be in the hands of law enforcement but could be used under court order.
There was also discussion about “homomorphic encryption,” a type of encryption that can keep data encrypted even as that data is processed or even shared.
Napolitano said the summit two weeks ago was just the beginning.
“The challenge for us is, ‘OK, now we’ve had these discussions, what’s next?'” she said.
NOTE: If your child is the victim of a predator or you know someone who is a victim, you can always call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit information online at tips.fbi.gov.
(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — Hurricane Milton, which re-strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane Tuesday afternoon, is taking aim at Florida’s west coast. Landfall is expected late Wednesday night as a Category 3 hurricane.
Milton is closing in as Floridians are still recovering from the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene.
Over a dozen counties issue mandatory evacuation orders
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in parts of over a dozen Florida counties: Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Johns and Volusia.
“If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you’re asked to leave by your local officials, please do that,” Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. “You don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one’s home.”
Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days’ worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.
Over 1,700 flights canceled, at least 6 airports closing
Over 1,700 flights have been canceled across the country as Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida.
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport, Palm Beach International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport are all closing for the storm.
The Florida Division of Emergency Services said it has partnered with Uber to provide free rides to and from shelters as residents evacuate ahead of Milton.
Biden offers Florida officials assistance ahead of Milton landfall
President Joe Biden spoke to local officials from Clearwater and Pinellas County, Florida, Tuesday night to talk about the “ongoing preparations for Hurricane Milton,” the White House said.
The president told Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector and Pinellas County Chairwoman Kathleen Peters “to call him directly if they need additional assistance on response and recovery efforts,” the White House added.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Tampa approaching ’11th hour,’ sheriff says as Milton approaches
“We’re approaching that 11th hour,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Wednesday as the Tampa Bay area prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Milton.
“My message is simple,” Chronister said in a video posted to the department’s X page. “If you need to get someplace safe for whatever reason, the time to do so is now.”
“If you need to get to a shelter, do so immediately,” the department wrote alongside the video.
The wider Tampa area is projected to experience storm surge of up to 15 feet and wind gusts of over 100 mph when Milton makes landfall on Wednesday night.
Sarasota County expands evacuation orders
Sarasota County in southwest Florida expanded its evacuation orders early Wednesday in preparation for Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall.
The county said in a post to X that its evacuation orders now also include those areas classified as “Level C.” Levels A and B are already under evacuation orders.
Level C areas are considered at risk in Category 3 storm conditions with winds of 111 to 130 mph and storm surge of up to 18 feet.
Sarasota County’s evacuation levels go as high as Level E, which is for Category 5 storms with winds higher than 155 mph and storm surge up to 32 feet.
Milton is expected to make landfall near the city of Sarasota between 9 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday as a high-end Category 3 or low-end Category 4 storm.
Hurricane Milton growing on Florida approach
Hurricane Milton is growing in size and its wind field is widening as it approaches the Florida coast.
The storm is expected to make landfall near Sarasota, Florida, on Wednesday evening as either a high-end Category 3 or low-end Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 125 to 130 mph.
Tampa Bay is expecting 10 to 15 feet of storm surge, with the estimated surge for St. Petersburg now down to 10 to 12 feet.
Fort Myers is now also facing a higher storm surge threat, possibly up to 12 feet.
The storm surge in the Tampa Bay and Fort Myers areas is expected to set new records.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Milton’s Florida landfall expected after 9 p.m.
Hurricane Milton is around 300 miles southwest of Tampa as Florida braces for impact between 9 p.m. ET and midnight on Wednesday.
Milton regained Category 5 status with 165 mph winds on Tuesday, becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane so late in the calendar year since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.
Landfall is projected just south of Tampa, possibly near Sarasota. Milton is expected to make landfall as a high end Category 3 hurricane with winds of around 125 mph — shy of Category 4 which begins at 130 mph.
The Tampa Bay area is expected to experience strong wind gusts of over 100 mph during landfall, with wind gusts of more than 74 mph possible even on the east coast of Florida around Cape Canaveral.
Hurricane warnings have been issued for the east and west coast of Florida, with tropical storm warnings issued as far south as Miami and the Florida Keys.
Milton’s storm surge poses the most significant threat. Tampa Bay and Fort Myers are expecting record breaking storm surge of up to 15 and 12 feet, respectively.
Heavy rain is expected to bring flash flooding. As many as 18 inches of rain is possible from Tampa to Orlando, and in parts of central Florida.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Milton to hit Florida as a ‘dangerous major hurricane,’ NHC says
Hurricane Milton was a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds close to 160 mph as of 1 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest update. The storm is in the Gulf of Mexico moving northeast towards Florida at around 12 mph.
The storm is expected to make landfall along Florida’s west-central coast as a Category 3 storm late Wednesday or early Thursday, subsequently moving off the east coast of Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday afternoon.
“Milton is expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it reaches the west-central coast of Florida,” the NHC said early Wednesday. “Weather conditions are expected to begin deteriorating this afternoon.”
Hurricane-force winds extend outward from Milton’s center to around 30 miles, with tropical-storm-force extending out to 140 miles.
St. Petersburg issues safety advisory for downtown tower cranes
Officials in St. Petersburg issued a public safety advisory Tuesday for residents and businesses near tower cranes ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall in Florida.
Due to anticipated wind gusts from the storm exceeding 100 mph, the high winds could potentially exceed the safe operational limits for tower cranes and pose a risk of malfunction, the city said in a press release.
“Lowering or securing a tower crane is scheduled weeks in advance and is not a feasible option within the timeframe of an approaching storm due to the rapid intensification and forecasted path,” the city said.
The four construction sites of “particular concern” are 400 Central Ave. (downtown), 275 1st Ave. S (downtown) 1000 1st Ave. N (downtown) and 101 Main St. N (Carillon), according to the city.
Bradenton mayor says, ‘We can replace your home, we can’t replace your life’
Ahead of Hurricane Milton’s impact, the mayor of Bradenton, Florida, joined ABC News Live Tuesday to issue a grave warning to residents who are not planning to evacuate.
“Get out of these areas because we can replace your home, we can’t replace your life,” Mayor Gene Brown said. “And we don’t want to be finding bodies floating in rivers — and we’ve seen that before,” he added.
Bradenton lies on the west coast of Florida, sitting in the middle of the forecast path for Hurricane Milton, which is forecast to make landfall between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Brown added that a local sheriff is advising those who do not evacuate to “Write your name on your arm so we can identify you. We’re all talking the same way,” Brown said.
Jacksonville mayor urges residents to shelter, stay off roads
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan urged residents to prepare for Hurricane Milton’s impact in a press conference Tuesday.
Deegan asked residents to “batten down the hatches” and hunker down until conditions improve.
“We are expecting river flooding at the height of the storm, with peak tides carrying into Thursday evening,” said Deegan. “We’re asking everyone to stay off the roads. If you haven’t already decided where you’ll shelter, please do so now and stay there.”
-ABC News’ Jason Volack
Timelapse video shows Hurricane Milton as seen from space
In stunning video footage taken by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, Hurricane Milton is seen from space as it makes its way toward landfall.
Dominick shared the video on X, which he captured through the window of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which is docked at the International Space Station (ISS).
American Airlines adds 2,000 seats for flights out of Florida
As Florida residents face urgent evacuation warnings ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall, American Airlines is adding 2,000 seats to flights out of Florida Tuesday, the airline said in a statement.
The airline said they will operate multiple additional flights out of Orlando International Airport “to allow customers who would like to evacuate by air the opportunity to do so.”
Milton strengthens to Category 5 again
Milton has re-strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane with 165 mph winds.
17% of stations without gas in Florida: GasBuddy
On Tuesday afternoon, 17.4% of Florida’s gas stations were out of fuel, according to GasBuddy data.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that, despite long lines at gas stations, the state didn’t have a fuel shortage. He said on Tuesday that 27 fuel trucks were escorted by the highway patrol overnight to help replenish gas stations.
Disney World announces closure
Disney World said its parks will close in phases as the hurricane approaches.
Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom will close at 1 p.m. Wednesday while Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and Disney Springs will close one hour later.
The parks will likely stay closed on Thursday, Disney said.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
Florida faces its largest emergency health care facility evacuation
Florida is facing its largest-ever evacuation of emergency health care facilities due to Hurricane Milton, a Florida Department of Health spokesperson told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Mary Kekatos
White House using Reddit to try to combat hurricane misinformation
The White House is launching a Reddit account to try to combat misinformation about hurricanes Helene and Milton, a White House official said.
The White House will use the account to post about how people can access FEMA support. The account will also engage with posts that are sharing false information and correct the record, the official said.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Over 700 flights canceled Tuesday, another 1,500 canceled Wednesday
Over 700 flights have been canceled across the country on Tuesday and another 1,500 flights are canceled on Wednesday as Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida.
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport are all set to close.
The Florida Division of Emergency Services said it has partnered with Uber to provide free rides to and from shelters as residents evacuate ahead of Milton.
United: All flights leaving storm zone are full
United Airlines added extra flights and bigger planes to airports in the storm zone, and now the airline says all of its flights are full.
United currently has 25,000 people booked from affected airports.
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport are all set to close for the storm.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
Hurricane warnings extend to Florida’s east coast
Hurricane warnings are in effect in Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando as Hurricane Milton closes in.
Hurricane and storm surge warnings have now also been issued for parts of Florida’s east coast, including Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral and Melbourne.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
DeSantis: Use today to finalize and execute your safety plan
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday urged Floridians to “use today as your day to finalize and execute the plan that is going to protect you and your family” from Hurricane Milton.
Landfall is expected around 11 p.m. Wednesday and the Tampa Bay area is forecast to face a record-breaking storm surge of 10 to 15 feet.
About 1,200 truckloads of debris left by Hurricane Helene have been removed over the last 24 hours, and that removal will continue until it’s no longer safe to do so, DeSantis said.
The governor said 37,000 linemen are either in Florida or on the way to help with power outages.
Twenty-seven fuel trucks were escorted by Florida Highway Patrol overnight to help gas stations running out of fuel, he said.
-ABC News’ Darren Reynolds
Counties issue mandatory evacuation orders
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in parts of counties along Florida’s west coast and even Florida’s east coast, including in Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Volusia.
“If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you’re asked to leave by your local officials, please do that,” Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA’s national hurricane center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. “You don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one’s home.”
Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days’ worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.
Latest forecast
Milton is now a Category 4 hurricane located about 545 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida.
Milton’s outer bands will start lashing Florida’s west coast by Wednesday morning.
Landfall is expected around 11 p.m. Wednesday between St. Petersburg and Sarasota, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane.
Tampa Bay is forecast to face a record-breaking storm surge of 10 to 15 feet.
Storm surge in Fort Myers could reach 6 to 10 feet.
As Milton moves over Florida, winds ahead of the system could push storm surge up to 5 feet in Jacksonville and up to 4 feet in Savannah.
Up to 18 inches of rain is possible by the end of the storm.
Tornadoes are also possible in South Florida on Wednesday and Thursday.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Milton becomes ‘powerful’ Category 4 storm
Hurricane Milton’s maximum sustained winds were at about 155 mph early Tuesday, classifying the storm as a “powerful” Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said
“While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida,” the center said in a 1 a.m. ET update.
-ABC News’ Jessica Gorman
Hurricane Milton still Category 5, but winds slow to 165 mph
As of its 11 p.m. ET update, the National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Milton now has wind speeds of 165 mph, slowing down by 15 mph from earlier Monday.
The storm still poses an “extremely serious threat” to Florida, the NHC said.
It’s currently moving toward the Northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, per the NHC.
It is still forecast by the NHC to weaken to a Category 3 before making landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
-ABC News Senior Meteorologist Melissa Griffin
President Biden speaks with Gov. DeSantis ahead of Milton hitting Florida
With Hurricane Milton inching closer to Florida, President Joe Biden spoke with Gov. Ron DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor Monday night, the White House said.
“This evening, the President had separate calls with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to get a firsthand report on recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, and to discuss preparations for Hurricane Milton,” the White House said in a statement. “He asked the Governor and the Mayor to call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts.”
Biden also spoke with director of the National Weather Service Kein Graham, who briefed him on the “expected impacts” of Milton on Florida.
Graham emphasized that “this hurricane could have major impacts and that people in the storm’s path should evacuate now while there is ample time to do so,” according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagel
Milton strongest hurricane in Gulf in nearly 20 years
Milton is now the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, by both wind and pressure, in nearly two decades, ABC News has determined.
As of 8 p.m. ET, Hurricane Milton’s winds were holding steady at 180 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Hunters report that Milton’s pressure has fallen to near a new record low of 897 mb. It is currently 650 miles southwest of Tampa, the NHC said.
-ABC News Senior Meteorologist Melissa Griffin
Orlando, Tampa airports among those closing
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, just outside of Tampa, Florida, will close at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and stay shut on Wednesday and Thursday.
“The airport is in a mandatory evacuation zone and is not a public shelter,” airport officials tweeted. “Prepare and stay safe.”
Tampa International Airport will suspend operations beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday and stay closed “until it can assess any damage after the storm,” airport officials said.
The Orlando International Airport will close Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and reopen as soon as it’s safe, officials said. Orlando Executive Airport (ORL) will cease operations at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport will close at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Homeland Security secretary tells those with evacuation order to ‘leave NOW’
Those currently under an evacuation order due to the threat of Hurricane Milton should leave now, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tweeted Monday evening.
“Hurricane #Milton is intensifying to record strength. If you’ve received an evacuation order, leave NOW,” he tweeted. “@DHSgov, the Biden-Harris Admin, and local and state partners are prepositioning life-saving resources. Stay informed via @FEMA or the FEMA app.”
FEMA outlines preparations for Milton, talks ‘extremely damaging’ misinformation
Keith Turi, acting director of response and recovery for FEMA, outlined on Monday the agency’s preparations for Hurricane Milton and urged anyone in the storm’s path to take it seriously.
“We’re urging anyone that is in an evacuation area, anyone that is told to evacuate, to please do so,” Turi said.
He also hit back against misinformation and conspiracy theories about the storm, calling it “extremely damaging.” In Georgia on Friday, former President Donald Trump pushed the baseless claim that FEMA had diverted disaster funds towards cities with an influx of migrants.
“It’s unfortunate, because these individuals have been through extremely traumatic times,” Turi said. “They’ve lost loved ones, they’ve lost their home and now they’re being influenced by information that just isn’t accurate.”
Milton storm surge forecast grows, winds now 180 mph
The storm surge forecast for Hurricane Milton has been revised higher by the National Hurricane Center.
Florida’s west coast can expect a maximum of 10-15 feet in some areas, according to the NHC. Milton poses an “extremely serious” threat, the NHC said.
Winds are now clocking in at 180 mph, the NHC reported.
Helene debris removal will continue until Milton’s winds reach tropical storm strength
The removal of debris from Hurricane Helene will continue until Hurricane Milton’s winds reach tropical storm strength in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, noting that 663 total truckloads of debris have already removed.
Schools in at least 20 counties will be closed on Tuesday and many more will be closed on Wednesday as Hurricane Milton moves in.
There’s no fuel shortage in Florida, DeSantis said. Some gas stations have run out of fuel, but more is coming, he said.
-ABC News’ Darren Reynolds
Latest forecast
Milton, currently a Category 5 hurricane with 175 mph winds, is located about 700 miles southwest of Tampa.
Hurricane Milton strengthened from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane in just 10 hours.
Milton now ranks as the third-greatest 24-hour hurricane intensification by wind speed in the Atlantic Basin. (Records are based on data since the satellite-er began in the 1960s.) The only other hurricanes to intensify faster were Wilma in 2005 and Felix in 2007.
Milton is expected to remain a powerful Category 5 hurricane through Tuesday.
It’s forecast to weaken to a Category 3 on Wednesday before making landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Hurricane watches are in effect in Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples and Orlando.
Storm surge will be one of the biggest threats from Milton.
Hurricane Helene just brought a record 6 to 8 feet of storm surge to the Tampa Bay area, and Hurricane Milton is now forecast to smash that record with 8 to 12 feet of storm surge. Fort Myers could see 5 to 10 feet and Naples could get 4 to 7 feet of storm surge.
Milton will also bring very heavy rain, adding to the rainfall a separate system is dumping on Florida now.
A widespread 5 to 10 inches of rain is possible by the end of the week, with local amounts up to 15 inches, which could cause considerable urban and river flooding.
-ABC News’ Melissa Griffin
DeSantis refuses call from Harris ahead of Hurricane Milton
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to take a call from Vice President Kamala Harris about Hurricane Milton because his team believes the call is politically motivated, according to a source close to the governor.
DeSantis staffers also said the governor has not spoken to President Joe Biden in at least the last few days.
The governor did speak with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday, and federal officials are continuing to work with state emergency managers to prepare for Hurricane Milton’s landfall.
DeSantis’ refusal to take Harris’ call was first reported by NBC News.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie and Jay O’Brien
Disney World remains open
Walt Disney World Resort is currently open and operating as normal.
“We are closely monitoring the path of the projected storm as we continue to prioritize the safety of our Guests and Cast Members,” the resort said on its website.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
-ABC News’ Yi-Jin Yu
Counties issue mandatory evacuation orders
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in parts of counties along Florida’s west coast, including in Charlotte, Citrus, Hillsborough, Lee and Manatee.
“If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you’re asked to leave by your local officials, please do that,” Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA’s national hurricane center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. “You don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one’s home.”
Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days’ worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.
Milton strengthens to Category 5 hurricane
Milton rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane late Monday morning.
Within hours, Milton strengthened to a Category 2, then a Category 3, then a Category 4 and finally a Category 5.
University of Florida cancels classes
The University of Florida is canceling classes on Wednesday and Thursday due to Hurricane Milton. The school plans to reopen on Friday morning, officials said.
Biden approves Florida emergency declaration
President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Florida to allow federal assistance to begin supplementing local efforts ahead of Hurricane Milton.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Milton expected to strengthen to Category 5 hurricane
Milton — currently a high-end Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds — is forecast to strengthen in a few hours to a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds.
The storm will then weaken slightly as it approaches Florida on Wednesday night.
Milton is forecast to make landfall Wednesday night into Thursday morning as a Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds.
Counties issue evacuation orders
Evacuation orders have been issued in counties along Florida’s west coast, including Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota.
DeSantis: ‘Time is going to start running out very, very soon’
Fifty-one out of Florida’s 67 counties are under a state of emergency as the state braces for Hurricane Milton, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.
The governor urged residents to pay attention to evacuation orders.
“Time is going to start running out very, very soon,” he warned.
“Please, if you’re in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate,” Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida Emergency Management, urged at a news conference.
“Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave.”
Waste removal trucks are urgently trying to get debris from Hurricane Helene off the streets of coastal communities before Milton hits.
DeSantis said debris will continue to be cleared until it’s no longer safe to do so.
Nearly 500 truckloads of debris from the barrier islands and Pinellas County have been moved to debris landfills in the last 24 hours, he said.
St. Pete-Clearwater, Tampa airports to close
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, just outside of Tampa, Florida, will close at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and stay shut on Wednesday and Thursday.
“The airport is in a mandatory evacuation zone and is not a public shelter,” airport officials tweeted. “Prepare and stay safe.”
Tampa International Airport will suspend operations beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday and stay closed “until it can assess any damage after the storm,” airport officials said.
Milton strengthens to Category 4
Milton rapidly intensified to a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds Monday morning.
Within hours, Milton strengthened to a Category 2, then a Category 3 and then a Category 4.
Latest forecast: Landfall expected Wednesday night
Hurricane Milton is forecast to make landfall Wednesday night or early Thursday morning as a Category 3 hurricane. Landfall is expected anywhere between just north of Tampa to south of Sarasota.
A record-breaking storm surge of 8 to 12 feet is forecast for the storm surge-prone city of Tampa. This comes just after Hurricane Helene brought a record storm surge of 6 to 8 feet to Tampa Bay.
A hurricane watch was issued for Tampa Bay and Fort Myers, while a tropical storm watch is in effect from Apalachicola to Key West.
Water inundation from Fort Myers to Tampa could be higher than the record-breaking 7 feet recorded during Helene.
Flooding is also a threat since a separate storm has dumped rain on Florida for the last several days.
Milton strengthens to Category 3
Hurricane Milton early on Monday strengthened to a major Category 3 hurricane, with wind speeds of about 120 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
Milton strengthens to Category 2 hurricane
Hurricane Milton strengthened rapidly early Monday, with wind speeds climbing to 100 mph, making it a Category 2 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.
A hurricane watch was issued for the area around Tampa Bay, along Florida’s western coast.
The storm, which is in the Gulf of Mexico, is forecast to become a major hurricane on Monday, meaning its winds are expected to reach or exceed 111 mph.
Landfall is expected on Wednesday night, with the storm expected to be a Category 3 storm with winds of about 125 mph.
-ABC News’ Max Golembo
Milton forecast to be major hurricane
Hurricane Milton, which strengthened on Sunday into a Category 1 storm, is forecast to make landfall as a “major” hurricane on Florida’s west coast this week, the National Hurricane Center said.
“While it is too soon to specify the exact magnitude and location of the greatest impacts, there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning early Wednesday,” the center said in a late Sunday advisory.
