Hurricane Milton could double in size and campaigns focus on Arizona: Morning Rundown

Hurricane Milton makes its way toward Florida. Harris and Trump set their sights on Arizona voters. And some women say they feel safer using robotaxis.

Here’s what to know today.

Hurricane Milton plows toward Florida

Florida is, once again, bracing for a direct hit as Hurricane Milton approaches the state and the window to evacuate closes. The storm is expected to make landfall early Thursday morning, sometime between 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., according to an NBC News forecast. The storm was a Category 5 strength but was downgraded to Category 4 Wednesday morning. The National Hurricane Center warned that Milton “has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.” The storm’s wind field was forecast to double by the time it makes U.S. landfall.

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A storm surge of up to 15 feet is forecast along a stretch of the coast that includes Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Florida is especially vulnerable to storm surge because “it doesn’t take much to push water over land that would be dry,” said Cody Fritz, the Storm Surge Unit Team Lead at the National Hurricane Center. See the storm surge forecast for the entire state.

Milton appears headed toward Tampa, where the back-to-back threat of hurricanes is hampering recovery efforts from Helene almost two weeks ago. Many residents trying to evacuate were met with gas shortages, gridlocked roads, few hotels to shelter in and no flights out of the area. They now find themselves stuck, forced to hunker down for the duration of the storm. 

In St. Petersburg, residents at the low-lying Twin City mobile home park said they’re not ready for another major storm. There, homes are knocked off their foundations, piles of wet carpet, wood and pipes rot in the sun, and abandoned cars and trucks litter the roads. A resident who spoke to NBC News said he and his brother plan to camp out in their minivan at a high school parking lot on higher ground, the same as they did for Helene. “They’re saying, ‘Get out of here,’” said 71-year-old Mark Prompakdee. “Where?” 

Follow our live blog for the latest forecasts and information about Hurricane Milton.

More Hurricane Milton coverage:

• Tourists who came to Florida for a sunny Disney vacation are instead stranded by the storm.
• How a hospital in Milton’s path is preparing, from asking staff to stay for the duration of the storm, to offering child care and a temporary shelter for pets.
• Major infrastructure upgrades to protect a vulnerable part of the Florida coast from flooding are months away from completion. 
• FEMA is on “a razor’s edge” as it scrambles to gather supplies, a watchdog analyst reports. But the agency insists it’s up for the task.
• Climate scientists measured how much stronger climate change made Hurricane Helene, and expect Milton will follow suit.

Harris and Trump fight for gains in battlegrounds 

With Election Day less than a month away, the Harris and Trump campaigns are targeting key groups that could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

For Harris, that means gaining the trust of voters who still feel Trump has the edge when it comes to the economy. Her campaign will spend the next few weeks presenting her as the candidate fighting for the middle class, while portraying Trump as caring more about cutting taxes for wealthy Americans like himself. One Democratic strategist said Harris will “need a much, much stronger and detailed economic message” if they want to win over crucial swing voters. Read more about Harris’ efforts to sell voters on her economic vision.

Both Harris and Trump’s campaigns are also looking to battleground states to win over voters. Harris’ campaign is launching a blitz in Arizona this week, with more than 200 events spread across the state. At a marquee rally tomorrow in Phoenix, Harris will work to drive up energy on getting out the vote. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign announced a “Latter-Day Saints for Trump” coalition in hopes of gaining support among a voting bloc that could be pivotal. While the church’s home is based in Utah, there is a significant Latter-Day Saints population in Arizona.

More 2024 election coverage

• Some Democrats working to re-elect Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio are attempting to raise fears about his opponent Colombian’s heritage, drawing accusations of racism from Republicans.
• The likelihood of a divided government, in which the White House and House are controlled by different parties, is “unusually high” this year, NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd writes. And whichever party controls the House will be pivotal in deciding the direction of the president’s first term. Read the full analysis here.
• Tech billionaire Elon Musk had a surprise call with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to talk about his interest in expanding factories to the region. Musk attended Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally last weekend and is expected to stump in the state in the coming weeks.

Meeting postponed as U.S. awaits Israel’s plans for retaliation

A top Israeli official’s visit to Washington D.C. was postponed at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a switch-up that comes as the U.S. awaits details of Israel’s plan to respond to last week’s missile attack by Iran. A meeting between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was originally scheduled for today. The two spoke last weekend and discussed potential responses but not Israel’s final decision on what it could do and when, one former and two current officials said. American military officials have discussed the possibility of supporting Israeli retaliation with intelligence or airstrikes of their own, two U.S. officials said. Read the full story here.

Politics in Brief

Foiled terror plot: An Afghan national living in Oklahoma was charged with conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack on Election Day on behalf of ISIS, according to court documents.

Immigration: Attempted illegal border crossings dropped to their lowest level since President Joe Biden took office, with under 54,000 apprehensions by Border Patrol in September, according to preliminary data obtained by NBC News.

Guns in America: The Supreme Court signaled it is likely to uphold the Biden administration’s move to regulate “ghost gun” kits that allow people to assemble deadly weapons at home while skirting existing regulations.  

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Read All About It 

Less than a fifth of large companies in the U.S. include coverage for weight loss drugs in their health insurance plans, a survey found.

Lisa Marie Presley kept the body of her son at home for two months as she struggled to cope with his sudden death, the family revealed in a new book.

The winner of an Alaska national park’s Fat Bear Contest is in: it’s Grazer, the fan-favorite who bested the competitor that killed her cub this summer.

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of slain Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and matriarch of one of America’s most famous political families, has been hospitalized after a stroke, her family said.

Staff Pick: Some women find comfort in using driverless taxis

Growing up, I was taught to always watch what’s going on around me. As an adult, the thought is still always at the back of my mind, especially when taking solo rides via a ride-hailing app. In big cities like San Francisco, some women concerned about using ride-hailing apps say autonomous taxis offer an answer to their worries of misbehavior by human drivers, especially men. Tech reporter David Ingram spoke to several women who expressed their fears about ride-hailing apps and the “peace of mind” that comes with having another option. However, recent incidents show not ever robotaxi ride is flawless.

— Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

There’s one more day to shop Amazon’s fall Prime Day sale. Curious about what everyone else is buying? Here are the bestsellers so far. Also, the sale is packed with many items at their lowest prices ever, as well as blink-and-you’ll-miss-them Lightning Deals. And don’t miss the last day of Best Buy’s flash sale on tech products.

 Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

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