How Helene and Milton were supercharged by climate change
As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida's central west coast, residents are preparing for the worst. The storm exploded into a Category 5 hurricane earlier this week, and now threatens to be one of the strongest storms to ever hit the state.
Like Hurricane Helene, which slammed into Florida and the Southeastern United States nearly two weeks ago, Milton is predicted to bring with it massive storm surges, destructive winds, heavy rain and the risk of death for those in its path.
The damage Hurricane Milton could cause is chilling, but maybe not surprising.
"This season is looking to be an extraordinary one in a number of ways," NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad warned last May when the agency rolled out its annual hurricane outlook.
One of the big reasons: Climate change is making storms more intense.
How climate change fueled Helene and Milton.
According to NOAA, 2023 saw record breaking hot water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Higher temperatures mean more powerful storms.
"Basically, when the water is warmer, storms can suck up way more of that moisture and that then falls as heavier rain," says NPR's Rachel Waldholz.
The heat and water serve as energy for the storm, Waldholz says.
"So it makes it much more likely that we'll see the kind of rapid intensification that we saw, both with Helene and now with Milton, where storms get really, really big, really fast."
Rising sea levels — driven by the melting of ice on land — are making storm surges more dangerous and destructive.
"When a storm like Milton comes along, driving this huge wall of water in front of it, and water levels are already higher than they used to be, that's a recipe for a really catastrophic storm surge. And right now, we're seeing predictions of 15 feet of storm surge in some places."
How it's impacting humans.
These supercharged storms not only threaten more people along the coasts, but also farther inland. Torrential downpours brought by Hurricane Helene caused devastating flash flooding as far as North Carolina.
A recent study found that a hurricane the size and strength of Helene was made 200 to 500 times more likely by human-caused climate change.
In the long term, the U.S. can expect to see more storms like Helene and Milton as long as warming continues.
This episode was produced by Brianna Scott. It was edited by Sadie Babits and Courtney Dorning. Alejandra Borunda and Rebecca Hersher contributed reporting. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
