Floridians evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton
Thousands are trapped in Florida's Hurricane hell as traffic lines clog roads and gas is running out while monster storm Milton closes in and officials warn residents to 'flee or die
Thousands of people are scrambling to flee Florida as catastrophic Hurricane Milton threatens a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St Petersburg, engulfing the region with towering storm surges.
Terrified Floridians are rushing to safety after local officials issued a stark warning overnight advising residents to 'flee or die' before the monster storm packs furious winds and gushes walls of water inland tomorrow.
Drivers are sitting in standstill traffic this morning as the state's major highways are clogged with miles-long lines of cars trying to flee the line of danger. Traffic is jammed both north and southbound as locals seek shelter out-of-state and in Miami.
The window has also nearly closed for people to escape the region by plane as airports in Tampa, St Petersburg and Orlando have already started grounding flights.
Residents who have accepted they won't be able to flee and are preparing to hunker down, have begun panic buying supplies, stripping store shelves of bottled water, toilet paper and other household necessities.
Those who are still desperate to escape and follow evacuation orders say it may be too 'dangerous' to hit the roads because local gas stations have run out of fuel. However, Governor Ron DeSantis this morning assured residents that there's enough fuel for them to get away from the storm.
Milton was so strong overnight that experts called for it to be given unprecedented Category 6 status, however the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 4 early this morning. Forecasters warn Milton is expected to grow in size and remain 'an extremely dangerous hurricane' when it makes landfall tomorrow.
Florida was preparing on Tuesday as Hurricane Milton headed toward its west coast, bringing potentially life-threatening hazards to the state for the second time in less than two weeks after Helene swept through.
Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast to brace for a “ferocious” storm. Milton, the strongest storm in the Gulf of Mexico since 2005, was expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday.
“Let’s prepare for the worst, and let’s pray that we get a weakening,” Mr. DeSantis said at a news briefing Tuesday morning. “But we must be prepared for a major, major impact to the west coast of Florida.”
At least nine counties in Florida have issued mandatory evacuation orders, and officials urged people to heed them.
“I can say, without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa told CNN.
Milton is expected to hit the shores of the densely populated Tampa Bay area. The region has not endured a head-on hit by a major hurricane in more than a century. As crews in Florida scramble to clear debris left behind by Helene, residents are flooding Interstate 75 with traffic to evacuate. Forecasters have warned of a potential 8-to-12-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay — the highest ever predicted for Tampa Bay and nearly double the storm surge levels there from two weeks ago during Helene.
Tampa Bay hasn't been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921.
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