Milton regained strength Tuesday afternoon, reclassified as a Category 5 storm with winds of 165 mph. It could make landfall Wednesday night in the Tampa Bay area, dropping up to 18 inches of rain with a 15-foot storm surge.
Fearful Florida residents streamed out of the Tampa Bay region Tuesday ahead of what could be a once-in-a-century direct hit from Hurricane Milton, as crews worked furiously to prevent furniture, appliances and other waterlogged wreckage from the last big storm from becoming deadly projectiles in this one.
The preparations marked the last chance for millions of people in the Tampa metro area to prepare for lethal storm surges, ferocious winds and possible tornadoes in a place that has narrowly avoided a head-on blow from a major storm for generations.
“Today’s the last day to get ready,” said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who previously ran the state’s emergency operation division. “This is bringing everything.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state deployed more than 300 dump trucks that had removed 1,300 loads of debris left behind by Hurricane Helene by Tuesday afternoon.
In Clearwater Beach, Nick Szabo spent a second long day hauling away 3-foot piles of soggy mattresses, couches and drywall after being hired by a local resident eager to help clear the roads and unwilling to wait for overwhelmed city contractors.
“All this crap is going to be missiles,” he said. “It’s like a spear coming at you.”
After weakening slightly, Milton regained strength Tuesday afternoon and became a Category 5 storm again, with winds of 165 mph. It could make landfall Wednesday night in the Tampa Bay area, which has a population of more than 3.3 million people. The 11 Florida counties under mandatory evacuation orders are home to about 5.9 million people, according to county-level population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Those who defy the orders are on their own, and first-responders are not expected to risk their lives to rescue them at the height of the storm.
“You do not have to get on the interstate and go far away,” DeSantis told a news conference, assuring residents there would be enough gasoline to fuel their cars for the trip. “You can evacuate tens of miles. You do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles away. You do have options.”
Milton is forecast to cross central Florida and to dump as much as 18 inches of rain while heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, according to the National Hurricane Center.
