Florida is bracing itself for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which is set to strike its west coast later today (October 9).
Millions of people have been ordered to evacuate the American state, with officials saying that those choosing to ignore the warning could face a grim fight for survival. The Tampa Bay area, which is home to more than three million residents, faces the possibility of widespread destruction when Milton hits.
The storm, declared potentially “one of the worst in 100 years,” is currently heading eastwards across the Gulf of Mexico towards the Atlantic Ocean on the opposite side of the Sunshine State. Dramatic footage of the hurricane – with its winds of 160 mph – has been captured by an astronaut from space.
Matthew Dominick, who is the commander of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share footage as he passed directly over the eye of the storm. “Timelapse flying by Hurricane Milton about 2 hours ago,” he penned alongside his clip. “1/6400 sec exposure, 14mm, ISO 500, 0.5 sec interval, 30fps.”
Matthew, 42, later added in a follow-up post: “We flew over Hurricane Milton about 90 minutes ago. Here is the view out the Dragon Endeavour window. Expect lots of images from this window as this is where I’m sleeping while we wait to undock and return to Earth.”
His footage drew amazement from his 61,000 followers, one of whom quipped: “Anyone else think it’s absolutely wild that this guy is tweeting from actual space, and here I am with no signal the moment I enter the Merseytravel underground haha.”
A second person added: “The age of information we live in is truly remarkable – Matthew’s real-time experience from space, sharing a vantage point most of us could only dream of, while also capturing one of the most destructive natural events on Earth. Awe-inspiring and sobering at once.”
Others were left similar contrasting emotions, meanwhile, as a third X user commented: “Absolutely mind blowing and absolutely terrifying all at the same time.” Whilst a fourth penned in agreement: “This is one of the most beautiful, horrifying images I’ve ever seen.”
And fifth declared: “Mad really. Both the hurricane and the fact that we’ve got people cruising just above this deadly force of nature whilst it can be all consuming everything on the Earth’s surface.”
The UK’s Foreign Office (FCDO) has urged UK holidaymakers to not visit Florida amid its latest USA travel guidance over the “life-threatening” weather conditions. The FCDO has warned that “no travel can be guaranteed safe at this time” for anyone heading to the Sunshine State. It comes as airline Virgin Atlantic has axed 23 flights between the UK and Florida.
In the latest update, published on Tuesday (October 9) the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office stated: “There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and high winds on the west coast with heavy rainfall and high winds expected to impact large parts of Florida.
“The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides advice about risks of travel to help you make informed decisions. Find out more about FCDO travel advice here. Follow and contact FCDO travel on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also sign up to get email notifications when this advice is updated.”