TAMPA, Fla. — Millions in Florida are bracing for a potentially catastrophic punch from major Hurricane Milton, which threatens a historically deep and dangerous storm surge to a large swath of Florida’s west coast along with wind gusts well over 100 mph when the storm strikes Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Milton regained Category 5 strength Tuesday evening, a day after becoming among the strongest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin. When it reaches the Florida coast, it is still forecast to be a major hurricane.

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“It’s worth emphasizing that this is a very serious situation,” the National Hurricane Center warned on Tuesday. “Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida.”

State officials have been scrambling since Monday to get millions off vulnerable coastlines in what is described as the largest mass evacuation in Florida since Hurricane Irma in 2017.  Storm surge forecasts along the central western coast are predicting 10–15 feet of water topped with devastating waves driven by hurricane-force winds. Those levels — significantly higher than the damage wrought just last month by Hurricane Helene — would surpass anything seen in over a century in the Tampa Bay area.

“Yes, you might have ‘been through hurricanes before,’” FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross said. “But you weren’t through the 1921 storm that put water over much of Pinellas County, or the 1848 hurricane that put 15 feet of Gulf water where downtown Tampa is today.” 

The Florida National Guard has mobilized 5,000 troops to assist with the response, with an additional 3,000 expected to be deployed before the storm makes landfall. The Florida Department of Transportation opened the shoulders on Interstate 4 and Interstate 75 going north to help speed up evacuations, and tolls have been suspended.

“Before Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida, some people got confused, ended up making terrible decisions, and died, Norcross said. “Don’t let that happen to you.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency over the weekend for 51 of the state’s 67 counties, and on Monday, President Joe Biden approved the state’s pre-landfall emergency declaration request.

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Shelters have started opening and the state has partnered with Uber to provide residents with free rides to and from shelters for those trying to escape Milton’s eventual wrath. To the north, Atlanta Motor Speedway said it was opening its campgrounds free of charge to evacuated Florida residents.

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On Tuesday, the first evacuations were ordered on Florida’s east coast in St. John’s County, including St. Augustine Beach. The county will experience a storm surge from the backside of Milton as it barrels across the state. 

Devastating winds to tear across the heart of the state

Aside from the life-threatening storm surge, Milton is forecast to bring wind speeds well over 100 mph around the eyewall where the hurricane makes landfall. That includes the Tampa area, which has potential wind gusts over 95 mph or more at landfall.

But even after landfall, damaging winds are expected to track across the central Florida Peninsula. Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane strength even through its trek along the Atlantic coast, with Hurricane Warnings covering 11 million including the Orlando area and along the east coast from the St. Lucie/Martin County Line northward to Ponte Vedra Beach.

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Storm surge will also be felt along the Atlantic coast of Florida from the Space Coast to the First Coast. This includes cities such as Daytona Beach, St. Augustine and Jacksonville Beach. 

Rainfall totals will reach 8-12 inches along Milton’s path with isolated totals reaching 18 inches. And Milton will present a threat of scattered tornadoes even ahead of landfall.  

Schools, airports, theme parks close

As Floridians hunker down to ride out the storm, widespread closures of businesses, schools and travel hubs are common.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) suspended operations on Tuesday morning, while Orlando International Airport (MCO), Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) in Sanford,  Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers, and Melbourne Orlando International Airport (MLB) in Melbourne will close to commercial flights starting on Wednesday.

Schools and universities across much of the state shuttered classes through at least Thursday.  Disney Parks, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld are among the theme parks announcing they will close for Milton.

Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex is closed through Thursday.

Race against the clock

Along central Florida’s western beaches, scars still linger from Hurricane Helene which less than two weeks ago slammed the region as a Category 3 storm with feet of storm surge and hurricane-force winds on its way to the Big Bend area.  

Piles of debris line sidewalks as reminders of the first hurricane’s destruction, now threatening to become airborne missiles in triple-digit winds or powerful debris floating atop an even higher storm surge.

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Tuesday, an army of dump trucks and bulldozers rolled into neighborhoods to try and scrape as much of the piles of debris as possible, but the task is daunting.

“Literally hundreds of blocks that have been decimated,” FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel reported from Madeira Beach in Pinellas County, Florida. “They’ve done about a block (of cleanup)… in about 45 minutes to an hour or so. There’s blocks and blocks of this, and we’re running out of time before the weather goes downhill later (Wednesday), certainly (Wednesday) night.”

Seidel estimated that the city would need another two weeks to clear all the mountains of debris. “But we don’t have that. We don’t have that luxury,” he said. “Just back to back here from Helene into Milton here in Pinellas County.”