US President Joe Biden has postponed a planned visit to Germany week as the powerful Hurricane Milton approaches the state of Florida.
Biden had been expected to arrive in Berlin on Thursday evening for a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
He had then been scheduled to travel to the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate to host a Ukraine summit at the US Ramstein airbase.
But the White House on Tuesday expressed grave concern about the hurricane which is heading towards areas of the US which recently suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Helene.
State of emergency in Florida
Late on Sunday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 51 of the state’s 67 counties, saying that Milton could have “major, major impacts” with storm surges of up to 6 meters (20 feet) of water.
The news had Floridians preparing for their largest evacuation in seven years since Hurricane Irma devastated the state in 2017.
The storm is predicted to make landfall on Florida’s west coast, with population centers including Tampa in its path, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay.
More to follow …
mf/wmr (dpa, AP)
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