INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Classes at public schools, along with School District buildings, will close Tuesday as residents brace for impact from Hurricane Milton, which rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane Monday.
All afterschool and extended day activities scheduled for Monday will continue, School District of Indian River County officials said. School District officials said they plan to reopen campuses on Friday.
Milton, with 160-mph maximum sustained winds, was traveling east southeast at 9 mph, according to a Monday update from the National Hurricane Center. The Treasure Coast area was located in the cone of uncertainty forecast map.
Meteorologists said Milton was expected to weaken before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday night on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The storm will bring widespread showers, rainfall amounts up to 8 inches – and in some areas possibly up to 12 inches – and winds up to 73 mph, said Kole Fehling, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
“There’s a potential for a few tornadoes,” Fehling said.