The area shaded red represents hurricane warnings as of Wednesday morning. The shaded blue area represents tropical storm warnings, and the pink and blue stripes indicate a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are in effect. The yellow shading indicates a tropical storm watch. (Graphic via National Hurricane Center)
As weather conditions deteriorated Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast, state officials braced for Hurricane Milton, staging resources and encouraging residents of evacuation zones to head to public shelters.
The National Hurricane Center advised at 11 p.m. Wednesday that the time to prepare and evacuate was “quickly coming to an end.”
Milton’s landfall was expected Wednesday night, although tornadic supercells began to hit the Florida peninsula Wednesday morning, the center reported. Multiple tornados were reported.
Storm surge of 10-15 feet was expected in the landfall area, with at least 1-3 feet across the entire west coast of Florida. The storm was producing maximum sustained winds of 145 mph Wednesday morning, keeping it at Category 4.
Local shelters had room, still, according to Director of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie.
“If you’re making a decision and you say, ‘Oh, it’s too late, there’s not enough room for me.’ There is room. Please come,” Guthrie said during a Wednesday morning news conference.
State government has opened shelters in addition to local facilities, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced. Both can be found on the Florida Division of Emergency Management website. The state shelters are larger in size. These non-school locations have generators and hosting there will enable schools, which also serve as shelters, to reopen to students after the storm more quickly, officials said.
Additional resources, including lists of evacuation orders, state assistance, and more can be found on the website, too.
Bridges and causeways in the area of anticipated landfall were to close in the early afternoon Wednesday, and emergency shoulder use on interstates was to end at noon. Traffic information, including road closures, can be found on FL511.
Staging
Milton has prompted the largest state preparation effort in more than one metric, according to DeSantis.
The state has deployed 6,000 Florida National Guardsmen, as well as 3,000 from other states.
“This is the largest Florida National Guard search and rescue mobilization in the entire history of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
Approximately 50,000 power line workers will be in Florida by the time the storm hits, from as far as California, the governor said. In total, 20 states are assisting Florida, according to DeSantis.
In preparation for Hurricane Milton, landfills were required to stay open 24/7 to dispose of as much debris as possible from Hurricane Helene, which struck Florida two weeks ago.
As of Wednesday morning, the all-out effort to remove debris had stopped. DeSantis said that crews removed about 50% of debris from Hurricane Helene — 3,000 truckloads carrying nearly 55,000 cubic yards of debris.
With the second major hurricane in two weeks, DeSantis thanked the people who have prepared and responded to the storms.
“There’s no better group of people that I would want responding to this than the folks that we have doing it throughout this state,” DeSantis said.
“Whether you’re talking about the counties down on the Gulf Coast of Florida, whether you’re talking about the people that we have here assembled in Tallahassee, these folks have proven themselves. They’re working hard, and we will get the job done.“
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.