Residents flee the Tampa Bay area as Milton sets his sights on Florida

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Fearful Floridians streamed out of the Tampa Bay area Tuesday ahead of what could be a one-time direct attack Hurricane Milton, While crews worked diligently to prevent furniture, appliances and other sodden debris from the last major storm from becoming deadly projectiles in this storm.

Tuesday was the last chance for millions of people Tampa metropolitan area to prepare for deadly storm surges, fierce winds and possible tornadoes in a place that has narrowly escaped a severe storm in generations.

“Today is the last day we need to prepare,” said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA director who previously led the state’s emergency relief department. “It does everything.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state deployed more than 300 dump trucks that removed 1,300 loads of debris left behind Hurricane Helene until Tuesday afternoon. In Clearwater Beach, Nick Szabo spent a second long day hauling away 3-foot (0.9 meter) stacks of sodden mattresses, couches and drywall after being hired by a resident who was eager to help clear the streets and not wanted to wait until he was overwhelmed by city contractors.

“The whole crap is going to be rockets,” he said. “It’s like a spear coming at you.”

Residents are evacuated while Milton regains his strength

After weakening slightly, Milton recovered Tuesday afternoon, becoming a Category 5 storm again with winds of 165 mph (265 km/h). It could land on Wednesday evening the Tampa Bay areawhich has a population of more than 3.3 million people. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that about 5.9 million people live in the 11 Florida counties under eviction orders.

Fluctuations in the storm's intensity are likely as Milton moves across the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said, but it is expected to become a dangerous storm by the time it reaches Florida.

Milton's forecast trajectory also fluctuated slightly Tuesday, meaning it could land in the less populated areas just south of Tampa Bay on Wednesday, the center said.

Nevertheless, the storm is expected to affect the entire region.

It is difficult to predict the exact location of the landing, even a day or so before the expected landing. The forecasts could be off by just over 60 miles (96 kilometers), the hurricane center said.

Those who defy evacuation orders are on their own, and first responders are not expected to risk their lives to save them at the height of the storm.

“You don’t have to get on the highway and drive far away,” DeSantis said at a news conference, assuring residents that there would be enough gas to fuel their cars for the trip. “You can evacuate dozens of miles. You don’t have to evacuate hundreds of miles away.”

According to the hurricane center, Milton is expected to pass through central Florida, dumping up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of rain on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. This path would largely spare others States devastated by Helenein which at least 230 people died on the way from Florida to the Carolinas.

Tampa is bracing for a potential historic storm fueled by warming waters

The emergence of back-to-back hurricanes that quickly intensified into powerful storms comes at a time when climate change is exacerbating the conditions that allow them to thrive in warmer waters. Milton is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1.

Most of Florida's west coast was under a hurricane or tropical storm warning as the system spun just off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, approaching the coast and siphoning off energy The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane warnings were expanded to cover parts of the state's east coast early Tuesday.

Tampa Bay hasn't been directly hit by a major hurricane since 1921, and officials fear its luck will soon run out. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued increasingly dire warnings, noting that a 15-foot (4.5-meter) wave of water could engulf an entire home.

“So when you're in it, that's basically the coffin you're in,” she said.

There's no good recent example of how bad it could be, because even historic hurricanes like Andrew, Harvey and Katrina didn't directly affect a major metropolitan area. They all stood on the side, said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

“It's hard to imagine places coming out of this situation very well,” McNoldy said. “If it's not the worst case… the next worst case is also very bad.”

Fuel lines, missed flights and heavy traffic

In Riverview, south of Tampa, several drivers waiting in a long line for fuel Tuesday morning said they had no plans to evacuate.

“I think we're just going to hang in there, you know – hang in there,” said Martin Oakes of nearby Apollo Beach. “We put up shutters. The house is finished. So this is kind of the final piece of the puzzle.”

Ralph Douglas, who lives in neighboring Ruskin, said he too would stay there, partly because he fears he will run out of gas or be blocked by debris when he returns after the storm.

“Where I am right now, I don’t think I need to be evacuated,” he said.

At the Tampa airport, John Fedor and his wife tried to catch a taxi to a storm shelter after missing several flights home to Philadelphia. They had hoped a Caribbean cruise would bring them closer, but tensions grew after they spent nearly $1,000 on unplanned transportation and hotel rooms due to travel delays. After a 2-mile walk to the airport, Fedor's suitcase opened and the wheels broke. They thought about going home or taking a train, but nothing worked.

“We’re kind of stranded here,” Fedor said.

President Joe Biden agreed to an emergency declaration for Florida, and the White House announced Tuesday that he would do so postpone a trip to Germany and Angola to monitor the storm.

“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” Biden told reporters. “God willing, it won’t be like that. But that’s what it looks like at the moment.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency employs nearly 900 people in the region and has equipped two staging areas with 20 million meals and 40 million liters of water, the White House said.

Latecomers were a problem during Helene and Ian in 2022. Many residents said they had evacuated during previous storms just to avoid major flooding. However, there was evidence on Tuesday that people were heeding warnings and told to leave before Milton's arrival.

The Florida Highway Patrol reported heavy northbound and eastbound traffic on all roads and said state troopers were escorting fuel tankers to help deliver gasoline.

About 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Tampa, Fort Myers Beach was almost a ghost town. Ian devastated the community two years ago with a 15-foot storm surge. 14 people died there. On Tuesday, the nearby Callosahatchee River was already choppy and hitting the seawall hard.

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Spencer reported from Fort Myers Beach. Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in New Hampshire, Curt Anderson and Kate Payne in Tampa, Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.