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09-10-2024
NEW YORK/ TALLAHASSEE: The US President has delayed a reception with the taoiseach (Irish prime minister) in Washington DC on Wednesday due to Hurricane Milton.
The storm is expected to reach Florida around the time a reception was scheduled to mark the centenary of diplomatic relations between Ireland and the United States.
Joe Biden and Simon Harris are still planning to meet in the Oval Office but the reception in the Rose Garden has been postponed.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said that he will proceed with all other parts of his program in Washington.
Biden had formally invited the taoiseach to visit Washington during the UN General Assembly in New York.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said that President Biden and Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke on Monday night.
The spokesperson said “the President asked that they would proceed as planned at the Oval Office on Wednesday but, given the grave threat posed in the United States by Hurricane Milton, they would postpone the reception in the Rose Garden until a later date”.
They confirmed that the taoiseach will proceed with all other parts of his program in Washington.
US officials have warned of the threat to life posed by the hurricane, which briefly became a category five storm before returning to category four.
Hurricane Milton is gathering ferocious winds of up to 155mph (250km/h) as it moves past the northern edge of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.
Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) have said “potentially catastrophic” storm surges are possible along coastal areas.
Floridians have been told to prepare for the state’s largest evacuation effort in years.
Meanwhile, US officials have warned of the threat to life posed by Hurricane Milton, which briefly became a category five storm before returning to category four as it heads towards Florida.
Milton is still packing ferocious winds of up to 155mph (250km/h) as it moves past the northern edge of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) say “potentially catastrophic” storm surges are possible along coastal areas.
The storm is expected to hit the heavily populated city of Tampa Bay with full force on Wednesday, less than two weeks after the state was hit by Hurricane Helene.
Floridians have been told to prepare for the state’s largest evacuation effort in years.
Governor Ron DeSantis has warned that time for people to evacuate is quickly running out. “We have to assume this is going to be a monster,” DeSantis said at press conference on Monday afternoon, as officials warned of the storm’s category five status.
Warnings over Hurricane Milton come just 10 days after Hurricane Helene – the deadliest mainland storm since Katrina in 2005 pummeled the US south-east, killing at least 225 people. Hundreds more are missing.
At least 14 of those deaths were in Florida, where 51 of 67 counties are now under emergency warnings as Milton approaches.
“Unfortunately, some of the Helene victims are in the path of this storm,” DeSantis said.
Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service (NWS), said Milton had become a category five hurricane at record-breaking speed with wind speeds intensifying by 80 knots (148km/h) over 24 hours. (Int’l News Desk)
