Topics: Florida, Nature, Science, Social Media, Twitter, US News, Viral, Weather, Hurricane Milton
The wind speed of Hurricane Milton has caused a wave to rise to a height of a whopping 28.12 feet.
Less than a fortnight after Hurricane Helene hit, Hurricane Milton has followed swiftly in its path.
If you get sea sick, you should probably look away.
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Hurricane Milton may've since decreased to a category one, but earlier this week it reached category five - experts even questioning whether the Saffir-Simpson Wind scale needed to be developed to include further categories.
By the time it made landfall in Florida yesterday (October 9), the storm was classified as category three, stated as consisting of 'winds [going at] 111-129 mph (96-112 kt or 178-208 km/hr)' where 'devastating damage will occur'.
"Well-built framed homes may incur major damage or removal of roof decking and gable ends. Many trees will be snapped or uprooted, blocking numerous roads. Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to weeks after the storm passes," the Saffir-Simpson scale states.
And it was yesterday when Hurricane Milton was at a category three when a drone managed to capture the storm's effects on an area of sea in the Gulf of Mexico, '40 nautical miles from the center of the storm'.
NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab and Saildrone captured footage of the impact of the storm on the waves, reporting Hurricane Milton's wind gusts were measuring 'as strong as 75.95 mph'.
NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab shared the clip to Twitter, explaining: "This research represents a collaborative endeavor to better understand the role of the ocean in hurricanes."
And the footage is enough to make even the most sea-experienced among us queasy, it not taking long for people to flood to the post to weigh in.
A Twitter user said: "Wow."
"Wtf 28ft tall wave?!" another added.
A third commented: "I'm getting seasick from seeing this."
"Pretty cool that one of these lil guys is out there, capturing data, doing his job, weathering one of the biggest storms and helping ppl understand whats comjng. Thanks Saildrone and NOAA!!" a fourth wrote.
A fifth said: "Love the fact an UNmanned craft can go into dangerous places and study the effects and science of things we still need to study."
And a sixth said: "This is insane! Be safe, Florida!"
Florida residents have been urged to evacuate with NWS Tampa Bay warning residents to treat the extreme winds 'as if a tornado was approaching'.
Florida's Martin Country Fire Rescue estimates 'dozens of homes' have already been damaged 'some severely,' urging people to 'stay off roads'.
