BOSTON (WHDH) – By air and by car, many Florida residents were evacuating their homes Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Milton and its expected landfall near Tampa. 

While some fled a short distance inland, others traveled further from the path of the storm. 

“It is very scary,” said Jeremy Yee after flying into Logan International Airport in Boston. 

After exploding to Category Five status on Monday, Milton weakened slightly overnight. The storm had peak sustained winds of 145 miles-per-hour as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. 

Though it is expected to weaken further before landfall, Milton is still forecast to hit Florida as a major hurricane late Wednesday night early Thursday morning, causing significant storm surge, heavy rain, and wind damage. 

Facing another major storm just weeks after Hurricane Helene lashed the area late last month, Yee said the mood in Tampa is tense. 

“It’s like they can’t catch a break,” Yee said. “So, they’re feeling pretty hopeless.”

Milton could be the strongest hurricane to hit Tampa since 1921. In warnings, public officials including Mayor Jane Cassidy have not minced words, warning of deadly conditions for people who stay in vulnerable parts of the city. 

“The fact that she used those words in an official statement, she’s serious,” Yee said. 

With his feet now safely on the ground in Boston, Yee said he was not going to take any chances by staying home. 

“Things are replaceable,” he said. “Lives are not.” 

Though Milton was situated roughly 545 miles southwest of Tampa Tuesday, air travelers trying to evacuate were already dealing with flight disruptions. 

Barbie Gonsalves said she was scheduled to fly on Wednesday. When her flight got canceled, she raced to the airport to get on a Boston-bound plane with her elderly mother and her nine-year-old son. 

“We were able to sneak out on another plane,” she said.

“We didn’t really have an option,” she continued. “As soon as there was potential of our flight getting canceled, my best option was to get us to the airport as quick as possible.” 

Gonsalves said there were many other people “on the same boat.” 

Like Yee, Gonsalves landed in Boston early Tuesday morning. At least five other flights from Tampa to Boston had been scheduled with arrival times between 10:30 a.m. and 9:37 p.m., according to Massport. 

Tampa International Airport suspended operations at 9 a.m., though, forcing airlines to cancel all flights. 

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Sarasota, Florida is scheduled to suspend operations at 4 p.m.

With flight cancellations increasingly making evacuation by plane untenable, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis has assured residents they don’t have to travel far to stay safe. 

“You can evacuate tens of miles; you do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles away,” he said at a Tuesday morning press conference, according to the Associated Press. “You do have options.”

This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates on Hurricane Milton.

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BOSTON – It was one year ago that a terrorist attack by Hamas killed 1,200 men, women, and children, in Israel, including 46 Americans. It has led to a widespread Middle East conflict killing an estimated 40,000 Palestinians.

In the heart of Boston there were calls for both peace and release of hostages as families, faith leaders and community advocates came together for a memorial service hosted by the organization If Not Now.

One year later, the collective grief heard in a solemn song was deep. One year later, the violence sparked by horrific evil persists.

“I hold a great deal of grief and also rage, of the horror and violence of the past year,” said Isaiah Newman of If Not Now. “Every life in Jewish tradition is a universe, every life carries weight, carries value, carries meaning inherently and every life is worthy of dignity, every life is worthy of respect.”

Community mourns lives lost since Oct. 7 attacks   

Together in the middle of the Boston Public Garden, a community stood in unity one year after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, mourning all the lives lost since that day. 1,200 Israelis were killed. Some hostages didn’t make it out alive and some are still in captivity today. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in in Israel ensuing war in Gaza.

Now the latest middle conflict is escalating in Lebanon, where Reem’s family is living in terror. “Most of my family is in Lebanon, I’m worried about their safety every single day they’re five minutes from utter chaos every single day,” said Reem. “I’m losing sleep.”

What they can do now is join together calling for an end to the death and destruction.

In solidarity, Representative Ayana Pressley joins that continued mission. “We can’t just pray for peace, we can’t just hope and that’s why we have to engage every diplomatic tool available to us for a ceasefire and we have to stop sending bombs,” said Rep. Pressley. “In this moment what I’m sitting with is the thousands of lives that we have been robbed off, that are Israeli, that are Palestinian, that are Jewish, that are Muslim that are Arab, that are American.” 

The Boston Celtics won both games against the Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi, getting their preseason off to an incredibly strong start against one of the toughest opponents in the NBA. Despite being outside the USA, Boston and Denver played in front of large and engaged crowds.

In a recent article for the Boston Globe, Adam Himmelsbach reported that Boston fans traveled from around the world to be in attendance in Abu Dhabi. During his time with the team, Himmelsbach spoke with numerous fans that had made the trip to see their favorite team playing in the Middle East.

The NBA is an established and consistently growing international brand. Every team in the league has a rabid fanbase outside of the US, with bigger market franchises having pockets of fans in every country around the world. As such, it makes sense that worldwide fans would make the trip to Abu Dhabi to experience a preseason game in the sunshine.

Boston is currently the biggest-name team in the world; that’s what happens when you dominate the league en route to winning a championship.

However, it’s also because of the storied history of the franchise, with legends spanning across multiple generations, ensuring everyone has a head of the Boston Celtics, at least peripherally. The Celtics’ trip to Abu Dhabi was a success. This was not only because of winning both games and getting started on the right foot, but also because it helped raise the profile of the team and the NBA as a whole.

There’s a reason the NBA runs its global games program, and judging by the turn-out at the Etihad Arena, that reason is working.

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics’ trip to Abu Dhabi was a complete success