Some Florida ports shuttered Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Milton, which is expected to continue growing in size before making landfall as a powerful, life-threatening storm.
Category 4 Hurricane Milton is expected to hit west-central Florida Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is forecast to double in size ahead of landfall but weaken. Milton on Tuesday was downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 4 storm.
Rainfall totals across Florida will be 5 to 12 inches with some parts seeing 18 inches, the hurricane center predicted. The amount of rain dumped onto Florida will cause life-threatening floods and moderate to major river flooding.
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the hurricane center said.
The National Weather Service in Tampa called the storm “an extremely life-threatening situation,” echoing similar dire warnings from officials, including Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who warned residents on CNN they are “going to die” if they ignore evacuation warnings.
Tropical storm conditions are possible along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts on Thursday, the hurricane center reported.
Port Tampa Bay halted incoming and outgoing vessel traffic Tuesday morning and expects gale-force winds to arrive later Tuesday. Shipping channels were closed, but landside operations were ongoing.
SeaPort Manatee closed Tuesday to vessel traffic but continued landside operations.
Ports in Key West, Fort Myers and St. Petersburg were closed Tuesday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Ports in Fort Pierce, Miami, Canaveral, Fernandina, Jacksonville and Panama City were open with restrictions.
President Joe Biden on Monday approved an emergency declaration for Florida, which will allow assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Florida Department of Transportation temporarily waived some requirements for heavy-duty trucks. Interstate lane closures and construction projects in the projected path of Milton were suspended.
Milton is arriving on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 27 and wreaked havoc in North Carolina, which is still recovering from the devastation. FEMA said during a call with reporters on Monday that Helene operations would not impact its response to Milton.
The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) began mobilizing for Milton on Monday. The nonprofit, which provides assistance to disaster relief nonprofits by coordinating aid requests, will share logistics needs on its website.
“All signs point to Hurricane Milton being an extremely destructive and dangerous event for the west coast of Florida, including many parts that are still struggling with rescue and recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Debby,” said Executive Director Kathy Fulton. “As a result, ALAN is consolidating its resources for preparedness and response efforts – and calling upon its network to help.”
Almost 800 flights were delayed in the United States on Tuesday, and nearly 700 were canceled, according to Flight Aware.
