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Weeks after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s Gulf coast, the country is bracing for another massive storm that’s making its way towards the Sunshine State.
Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall late Wednesday, first became a Category 5 hurricane on Monday and, as officials urge Floridians in the storm’s path to evacuate and seek shelter elsewhere, meteorologists are doing their best to explain the dire situation many Americans could soon find themselves in.
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On Oct. 7, ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee shared a video on TikTok explaining the dangers that can happen because of a hurricane, even inland.
In the video, Zee walks through a green screen model that, through CGI, shows the audience how a storm surge can create dangerous conditions, prompting fans to call the phenomenon “terrifying.”
@gingerzee Replying to @ammy5621 good question — I have seen surge move homes and vehicles with ease. Heres our simulation. #milton #stormsurge #explainer #florida
♬ original sound – Ginger Zee
She explains that as pressure falls in the center of a hurricane, water levels rise “while it’s still over the open ocean water.” She notes that as the hurricane gets closer to land, the strong winds push that water “with nowhere left to go but up and inland, sometimes as high as 20 feet.”
The visual model then shows what it would look like if water entered a home “quickly and viciously,” with the meteorologist explaining that during superstorm Sandy, which caused destruction in its wake on the East Coast in 2012, some “homes filled with water quickly, reaching eight to nine feet inside the house.”
Zee continues, explaining that when a storm surge “combines with high tide, the rapid rising water can be devastating. Some may think it’s the high winds, but storm surge is actually the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane.”
One fan thanked her in the comments, writing “I didn’t fully understand storm surge until now!,” with another person responding, telling them to “Imagine you have a bowl of water and you blow on it, the water is higher directly in front of where you’re blowing. It’s kinda like that.”
Next: Hurricane Milton Predictions Bring Meteorologist to Tears During Live Broadcast
