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Florida residents in Milton’s path have been told to get out while they can.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and others warned people Tuesday to finish their storm preparations and evacuate as Hurricane Milton approached the state as a Category 5 storm.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said in a forecast discussion.
The storm’s wind field was forecast to double by the time it moved across the Gulf of Mexico and hit Florida.
The National Hurricane Center predicts landfall late Wednesday, but an NBC News forecast predicts landfall slightly later, between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday.
Storm surge warnings covered almost the entirety of Florida’s western coast, and in an area between Bonita Beach and Chassahowitzka, the inundation will be more than 5 feet, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said Tuesday.
In a stretch that includes Pinellas County, Sarasota and Tampa Bay, “somewhere in this region is going to experience 10 to 15 feet of inundation about ground level,” he said.
The state was preparing for a potentially devastating storm. Power line workers from as far away as California were headed to Florida to help resolve what forecasters said could be extended power outages, DeSantis said.
In Pinellas County, areas with half a million people living there have been ordered to evacuate. The city of St. Petersburg expects to get winds of 100 mph, which is greater than what it got during Hurricane Helene.
It was less than two weeks ago that Helene flooded parts of the western Florida coast before it made landfall in the Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm, where it would continue on a path that devastated parts of the Southeast.
Milton will track across Florida from west to east. In Orlando and the surrounding area, forecasters warned of up to 15 inches of rain and said the city and the region face an “extreme flooding rain threat.”
What we know about Hurricane Milton
- Hurricane Milton, which forecasters say is an "extremely powerful hurricane," is expected to roar into Florida tomorrow or early Thursday.
- With the threat of back-to-back hurricanes looming in parts of the state, crews are scrambling to haul away Hurricane Helene's debris before Milton makes landfall.
- Milton appears headed for Tampa, where the National Hurricane Center is warning of up to 15 feet of storm surge.
- At around 11 p.m. ET, the storm was about 405 miles southwest of Tampa, with sustained winds of 160 mph. That makes it a Category 5 storm, but fluctuations in intensity are likely, forecasters said.
- With emergencies declared in dozens of Florida counties and evacuations underway, residents have clogged highways and interstates as they make their way out of the storm's path.
- NBC News Lite, a lightweight version of NBCNews.com available in emergency situations when internet connectivity may be limited, has been turned on for readers in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.
17% of Florida's gas stations are without fuel
More than 17% of Florida’s nearly 16,000 gas stations are without gas as residents and visitors scramble to fill up with Hurricane Milton approaching, a website says.
GasBuddy’s fuel availability tracker says that as of 6:30 tonight, 17.4% of the state’s 7,912 gas stations were without fuel.
The website was activated to help Florida drivers find fuel and power as they prepare for Milton.
In some of Florida’s most populated cities and area, fuel is even harder to find.
Those cities and areas include Tampa and St. Petersburg, with 43.06% of stations without fuel; Fort Myers and Naples, with 27.79% of stations without fuel; and the Orlando and Daytona Beach area, with 14.68% of stations without fuel, according to the tracking site.
Map: Flood insurance coverage in Florida
About 1 in 6 Florida homes – 16% – have federal flood insurance, according to an NBC News analysis of National Flood Insurance Program and Census Bureau data. However, among counties in Hurricane Milton’s path, about 13% are covered.
The NFIP accounts for more than 95% of flood insurance policies nationally.
Milton isn’t the first hurricane to rebound to Category 5
Hurricane Milton, after it decreased to a Category 4 storm, has gathered its strength and is back to Category 5 with sustained winds of 165 mph, according to a National Hurricane Center advisory.
Milton isn’t the first hurricane to rebound back to Category 5. According to an NBC News analysis of National Centers for Environmental Information data, nine other hurricanes in the Atlantic basin have rebounded:
- Hurricane Camille in 1969
- Hurricane Allen in 1980
- Hurricane Andrew in 1992
- Hurricane Isabel in 2003
- Hurricane Ivan in 2004
- Hurricane Dean in 2007
- Hurricane Felix in 2007
- Hurricane Irma in 2017
- Hurricane Maria in 2017
Tampa Bay peninsula 'has plenty of space left' in shelters
Thousands have evacuated to Tampa Bay-area public shelters tonight, but the facilities still have room for more, the government of Pinellas County said tonight on X.
There's still time to seek safety, the county said, and there's still room at county shelters. Two more have opened, county officials said at a news conference today.
"We have 10 public shelters with plenty of space left, including pet-friendly and special needs," it said. "You still have time to leave, but the window is closing fast."
Zones defined by their coastal or low-lying geography are under mandatory evacuation in the county and represent the ground under an estimated 500,000 residents, a majority, the county has said. The orders also include those in mobile homes and those with special needs, it said.
Pinellas County Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins said of Hurricane Milton at the news conference, "Whether it’s a direct hit or it moves slightly, we are going to get hit, and it’s going to be hard."
Private plane crashes during evacuation attempt in St. Petersburg
A small private plane crashed just east of the St. Pete Pier in Florida this morning, St. Petersburg police said in a statement.
A police officer rescued four passengers and a small dog from the water. The statement said three people were treated at the scene and then taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The passengers were trying to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton when they crashed because of engine failure immediately after takeoff from Albert Whitted Airport, the statement said.
Waffle House announces Florida closures as part 'Waffle House Index'
Always-open restaurant chain Waffle House this afternoon posted maps of its Florida locations that will be closed in advance of Hurricane Milton, referring to the famous “Waffle House Index” about a storm’s severity.
“Please stay safe,” the restaurant chain wrote on X. A map along with the hashtag #whindex showed closures in the Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Fort Myers and Cape Coral areas.
The “Waffle House Index” is a term coined by former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate. It's used as an informal measure of how bad a storm is expected to be or has been, because the chain of restaurants, many of which are in the South, are rarely closed.
"Waffle Houses are up and down the interstate systems in Florida. It's a pretty good gauge. Once you get into areas that the Waffle Houses are closed or have limited menus, you're starting to get into the areas with the impacts," Fugate said on NBC News in 2022 during Hurricane Ian.
What makes Tampa so vulnerable to big storms?
Tampa has not been directly hit by a major hurricane in more than a century, but the coastal city has long been considered one of the most vulnerable to severe flooding in the country.
Part of the problem is that Tampa is densely populated, with the metropolitan area being home to more than 3 million people. The region’s topography is also a factor: Florida’s western coastline along the Gulf of Mexico is shallow, and Tampa Bay’s underwater terrain is such that it acts like a giant funnel, channeling and trapping floodwater in the bay.
Sea level rise as a result of climate change has also increased the region’s flooding risk. In addition, sprawling development across the entire metro area means more people and structures could be in harm's way — and any destruction from a storm is likely to cause huge financial losses.
A 2015 report from the risk modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. ranked Tampa Bay as the place most vulnerable to storm surge flooding from a hurricane in the U.S.
Milton is expected to generate storm surges of 10 to 15 feet, which could be catastrophic for the Tampa Bay area.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said earlier today.
‘We really need people to leave’: Race to evacuate before Hurricane Milton landfall
Many Florida residents are evacuating amid dire warnings about Hurricane Milton. NBC News’ Jesse Kirsch is on the ground with the latest reporting. Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Sandra Tapfumaneyi joins Katy Tur to share more on the preparations underway ahead of the massive storm’s landfall.
Milton could be one of most destructive hurricane on record for west-central Florida
As night fell in Florida, the National Weather Service posted a satellite image of Hurricane Milton and warned that evacuations should be completed today.
It also shared a warning from the National Hurricane Center's forecast discussion that says "Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.”
The forecast discussion also says there will be "a large area of destructive storm surge," with the greatest inundation levels at over 10 feet.
Area that includes Orlando warned of ‘extreme’ flooding rain
While Hurricane Milton is expected to bring what could be a devastating storm surge to Florida’s western coast, central Florida, including Orlando, faces a threat of severe flooding from rain.
An area that includes the city of 316,000 faces an “EXTREME flooding rain threat,” with 6 to 12 inches of rain, the National Weather Service for the region said.
Up to 15 inches of rain is possible in some areas, it said.
The extreme flood threat from rain also includes Kissimmee, Sanford and Daytona Beach.