As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, a CGI video depicting a 9-foot storm surge expected to hit certain coastal areas is going viral online. The video illustrates the water level slowly rising against cars, houses, trees, and street posts.
"Imagine 3 feet of storm surge right here," the Weather Channel host says as he describes the 3D visuals. "Now if this amount of water catches you by surprise, it's too late to evacuate," he warns.
He further warns, "Cars are floating around in flooding waves; there are large objects in here that could knock things down with a battering-ram-like force." The host then escalates the scenario, saying, "Imagine 6 feet; now this completely floods out the first floors of homes and businesses, and the only way to escape that is to move to higher ground." He adds, "Now, imagine 9 feet or beyond of flooding. This is practically not survivable, so please follow the advice of the local authorities."
Netizens reacted strongly to the video, describing it as "terrifying", "wild" and "insane".
Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. After a day of rapid intensification, Hurricane Milton surged from a Category 1 to a Category 5 storm in just 10 hours on Monday, continuing its destructive path toward Florida on Tuesday. The storm poses a significant threat, capable of unleashing life-threatening winds and storm surges along the state's west coast.