Treasure Island, United States (AFP) — Hurricane “Milton” barreled towards Florida as a weakened but still major Category 4 storm on Tuesday, threatening the US state with a second ferocious hurricane in as many weeks.

Forecast to batter Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula as it churns eastward, Milton triggered evacuation orders and warnings of savage conditions on Florida’s west coast.

“If the storm stays on the current track, it will be the worst storm to impact (Florida’s) Tampa area in over 100 years,” the National Weather Service said.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 250 kilometers per hour, it said — weakening slightly from earlier in the day to a Category 4, the second highest on the scale.

Communities hit by the deadly hurricane “Helene,” which slammed Florida late last month, raced to remove debris that could become dangerous projectiles as Milton approaches.

“All this stuff is just wind fodder that’s going to just be blowing down the street and hitting who knows what,” said David Levitsky, a retired homeowner on Treasure Island, in Pinellas County.

Residents on the low-lying island have been piling up debris from Helene’s flooding in their front yards for removal.

The back-to-back hurricanes have ignited political bickering ahead of the upcoming US election.

Governor Ron DeSantis, a conservative known to clash with the federal government, came under fire after broadcaster NBC reported he was ignoring phone calls from Vice President Kamala Harris on the “Helene” recovery.

DeSantis did speak to President Joe Biden about the Milton preparations, the White House said late Monday.

Harris slammed the Republican governor for “playing political games.”

“It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first,” she told reporters, while also criticizing Trump as “extraordinarily irresponsible.”

Former president Donald Trump has tapped into real frustration about the federal response after “Helene” and fueled it with disinformation, falsely claiming federal disaster money had been spent instead on migrants.

Researchers say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of hurricanes, because there is more energy in warmer oceans for them to feed on.