Florida
Florida prepares for massive evacuations as Hurricane Milton takes aim at major metro areas
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — Florida is gearing up for what could be its biggest evacuation in seven years as Hurricane Milton strengthens over warm waters and heads toward major population centers including Tampa and Orlando.
About 7 million people were urged to evacuate Florida in 2017 as Hurricane Irma bore down on the state. The exodus jammed freeways, led to hourslong lines at gas stations that still had fuel and left evacuees frustrated and, in some cases, vowing never to evacuate again.
Hurricane Milton was centered late Sunday night about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and 765 miles (1,235 kilometers) west-southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kmh), the National Hurricane Center reported.
While forecast models vary widely, the most likely path suggests Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remain a hurricane as it moves across central Florida into the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Hurricane Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida into the Appalachian Mountains and a death toll that rose Sunday to at least 230 people.
Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys and the northwestern Bahamas should monitor the system’s progress, the hurricane center said. Heavy rainfall was expected Sunday ahead of the hurricane and likely will then combine with Milton’s rainfall to flood waterways and streets in Florida, where forecasters said up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain could fall in places through Wednesday night.
Building on lessons learned during Irma and other previous storms, Florida is staging emergency fuel for gas vehicles and charging stations for electric vehicles along evacuation routes, Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said at a Sunday briefing.
“We are looking at every potential, possible location that can potentially house someone, as what we refer to in emergency management, as a refuge of last resort,” Guthrie added.
Hurricane Milton is intensifying rapidly and will likely be a major hurricane before slamming into the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast midweek.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen where Milton will strike, it’s clear the state is going to be hit hard.
“I don’t think there’s any scenario where we don’t have major impacts at this point,” he said.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” DeSantis said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
With Milton achieving hurricane status, this is the first time the Atlantic has had three simultaneous hurricanes after September, according to Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach. There have been four simultaneous hurricanes in August and September.
The St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay area is still cleaning up extensive damage from Helene and its powerful storm surge. Twelve people perished as Helene swamped the coast, with the worst damage along the narrow, 20-mile (32-kilometer) string of barrier islands that stretch from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
“We are preparing … for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma,” Guthrie said.
People who live in homes built after Florida strengthened codes in 2004, who don’t depend on constant electricity and who aren’t in evacuation zones should probably avoid the roads, Guthrie said.
All classes and school activities in St. Petersburg’s Pinellas County preemptively closed Monday through Wednesday as Milton approached. Officials in Tampa opened all city garages free of charge to residents hoping to protect their cars from floodwaters, including electric vehicles. The vehicles must be left on the third floor or higher in each garage.
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said, and he directed Florida crews dispatched to North Carolina in Helene’s aftermath to return in preparation for Milton.
“All available state assets … are being marshaled to help remove debris,” DeSantis said. “We’re going 24-7 … it’s all hands on deck.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell defended her agency’s response to Hurricane’s destruction after Republicans’ false claims, amplified by former President Donald Trump, created a frenzy of misinformation across devastated communities.
“This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people and it’s really a shame we’re putting politics ahead of helping people,” Criswell told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. It has created fear and mistrust among residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground across the southeast, she said.
Despite this, Criswell said the agency is already preparing for Milton, well before it’s clear exactly where the storm will move across the Florida peninsula this week.
“We’re working with the state there to understand what their requirements are going to be, so we can have those in place before it makes landfall,” she said.
Federal disaster assistance has surpassed $137 million since Helene struck more than a week ago, one of the largest mobilizations of personnel and resources in recent history, FEMA said Sunday.
Some 1,500 active-duty troops, more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and nearly 7,000 federal workers have been deployed, shipping more than 14.9 million meals, 13.9 million liters (3.6 million gallons) of water, 157 generators and 505,000 tarps, along with approving more than $30 million in housing and other types of assistance for over 27,000 households, according to FEMA, the White House and the Department of Defense.
More than 800 people unable to return home are staying in lodging provided through FEMA and 22 shelters are still housing nearly 1,000 people as mobile feeding operations continue to help survivors. The response to Helene won’t let up during Milton and its aftermath, because FEMA has the capacity to address multiple disasters simultaneously, the agency said.
“My Administration is sparing no resource to support families as they begin their road to rebuilding,” Biden said. “We will continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders — regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.”
Florida
University of Florida Baseball Coach Kevin O’Sullivan to Take Leave of Absence – Florida Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida Head Baseball Coach Kevin O’Sullivan will take a leave of absence from his coaching duties to address personal matters, effective immediately.
During O’Sullivan’s absence, Chuck Jeroloman will assume leadership of the baseball program on an interim basis.
“I appreciate the support of the University and athletic department, “said O’Sullivan. “I have some personal and family issues that need my full attention at this time.”
“Coach O’Sullivan has our full support as he takes the time he needs to focus on personal matters,” said Athletics Director Scott Stricklin. “We appreciate his openness in communicating this decision, and respect his need for privacy.”
“Very clearly,” he said.
As for AJ Brown, two years Isaiah’s elder, not so much.
“Controversial ending,” he said.
Rewind to maybe a decade ago. Game point. Isaiah down 14-13. Next bucket wins. Isaiah tried using his bigger body to back his brother down, but AJ held firm. A drive to the left didn’t work. Drive right, same result. AJ walled up both times.
It was time to make things simple.
“I just backed away and threw up a shot,” Isaiah said. “It went in and I ran into the house.”
The historic victory was announced to the rest of the family, as Isaiah made way to his bedroom, followed closely behind by a protesting AJ. The game, apparently, was not over.
“We’re going to 21,” AJ said.
Back out they went.
The Browns’ basketball journeys – both together and individually – have been defined mostly by fierce competition that culminated with crowd-pleasing success. They won a two state championships together in high school. AJ became a mid-major standout at Ohio University in the Mid-American Conference. Isaiah, two years later, chose the high-major route, signed with Florida and celebrated a national championship as a freshman.
Now, in 2025, their paths that began in an Orlando driveway have converged two hours north, where AJ and Isaiah are now teammates for the Gators and – it just so happens – battling one another for backup minutes at the small forward and shooting guard positions.
And they’re totally cool with it.
Bottom: Cute kids mugging for the camera
“For me, it’s basketball. The better player wins,” AJ said. “Whatever the coaches see as the best fit for the season, that’s what it’s going to be. I mean, we’re going to be competitive. We’re going to be at each other’s throats. But at the end of the day it’s the coaches’ decision.”
Also, at the end of the day, they’re brothers; the first sibling tandem, in fact, to team up for Florida men’s basketball since Dwayne and Travis Schintzius played half the infamous 1989-90 season together (before that, it was Joe and Pat Lawrence from 1984-87).
“There is never going to be bad blood between AJ and me,” said Isaiah, who goes by “Zay” to his team. “It’s more like, if he plays, I’m glad. ‘Yeah, go for it.’ If I’m playing, he’s going to cheer for me.”
Coach Todd Golden, entering his fourth season at Florida and seventh as a head coach, has a system based on rotation of eight or nine players that gets squeezed as the season goes deeper.
The Gators are stocked in the front court and that includes with junior Thomas Haugh, arguably the best sixth man in the country last season, locked in at the “3” spot after playing almost exclusively as a backup “4” the last two years. It is the backup role to Haugh – as well as the third shooting guard behind Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee and returning junior Urban Klavzar – where the Brown brothers are fighting for minutes in the rotation.
Through the first month of fall practice, freshman CJ Ingram distinguished himself at the backup “3” and has played large chunks of practice on the blue (or front-line) squad during full-contact scrimmages.
AJ and Isaiah, meanwhile, have been almost exclusively running with the white (or scout) team and looking to make their mark. There’s still time to do so.
“They’ve both been up and down, but they’re competing and that’s all we ask,” said UF associate head coach Korey McCray, who tutors the guards and is quick to remind the reserves how three of the starter’s on last season’s 36-4 squad missed games due to injuries. “What it looks like today may not be what it looks like that tomorrow. You have to stay ready.”
The coaching staff, in turn, must have a hand in that.
“You keep coaching them, keep encouraging them, but it has to come from themselves,” said Taurean Green, who oversees player development. “They’re both older players now. Zay is in his second year. AJ is a veteran college player. This is his fourth year. They know what to expect in college basketball. They’ve got to be able to bring it consistently. They know what it takes to play at a high level and what it takes to win.”
AJ is 21 with 62 career games and 731 points. Isaiah is 19, with just 19 games and 36 points on his short resume. The Browns were five years younger when they won the first of back-to-back Class 2A state championships at Orlando Christian Prep. AJ once scored 35 in game. Isaiah later topped that with 45.
So, yeah, they know how to win, but they also have individual games that aren’t much alike. That’s fitting. They also don’t look much alike, despite both being 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds.
“You should see my twin sister,” AJ said. “She looks nothing like me.”
Added Isaiah: “The best way to explain it is that he’s more Type A and I’m more Type B. I’m going to let it happen, he’s going to make it happen. Honestly, I think that’s the only way we’re different because we both love to laugh, listen to the same music and are strong in our faiths. We’re common in so many ways.”
But not basketball.
Here’s how father Ronald Brown Jr. described his sons’ respective skill sets: “Finesse player versus a brute.”
AJ is the former. At Ohio, he averaged 11.4 points over his three seasons, with a career-high of 28 in the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament game against Ball State as a freshman (earlier that season, AJ scored 14 points in an 82-48 loss to UF at Tampa). As a senior, he finished at 13.2 points a game on 47.1% from the floor, 38.8 from the 3-point line and 82.0% from the free-throw line. For context, his 139 makes from distance were 22 more than Walter Clayton Jr. banged last season for the Gators. At his best, he can stroke it.
But while a run of double-digit scoring in 15 of 16 games in ’25, AJ suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against rival Miami-Ohio. Six weeks later, he watched on television as Florida defeated Houston for the NCAA title in San Antonio on April 7.
“I was so happy for my brother. I felt like I was there,” he said.
AJ went into the transfer portal and followed his younger sibling to UF. Less than a month into his Gainesville arrival, AJ underwent surgery to fix his shoulder, then spent almost the entire summer rehabbing before being cleared for full-contact work just before the start of official fall practice. The potential for a medical redshirt ’25-26 season is something he has not ruled out. Whatever happens, AJ’s return to being the hot-shooting Ohio Bobcat version of himself is progressing.
“Honestly, the Lord has been good to our family,” Ronald Brown said. “AJ had other options and, truth be told, he really loved playing for Ohio. But the opportunity came up and it was something, as a family, we sat down and talked about. Even for AJ, as many years as he was at Ohio and how much he played, he understood that coming to Florida was like starting over again. Everything was going to be different. Everything was going to be harder. But playing with his brother was ultimately why he made the decision.”
Isaiah, a lefty with bounce, totaled 71 minutes as a collegiate rookie last season, with his most meaningful on-court time (six minutes) coming in a Southeastern Conference home game against Vanderbilt with Clayton sidelined by an ankle injury. He had nine points (with a pair of 3s) in seven minutes earlier in the season against Florida A&M and seven points and four rebounds in 10 minutes against North Florida. He is, by far, the better athlete of the two brothers, with the ability to draw on that athleticism to be physical when determined to do so.
Even AJ admits as much.
“Not everybody can be blessed with a 40-inch vertical jump,” he said.
Though he combined to play just three minutes in the Gators’ six NCAA Tournament games, the sight of Isaiah in tears and hugging best friend Micah Handlogten amid the post-game national final celebration at the Alamodome made clear what the season meant to him.
“One of the things that he understands was that he might not have played on the court, but he was part of the program and helping guys get better each and every day,” Ronald Brown said. “A lot of people don’t understand or appreciate how much the day-to-day routine and practice matter.”
Fast forward to present day.
The Browns play almost exclusively on the white team during scrimmages. In facing Haugh, Alex Condon, Reuben Chinyelu and friends, some days are tougher than others for the backups, which only means they need to increase their toughness. Play through. Compete.
Two weekends ago, for example, the white defeated the blue in an O’Dome scrimmage, much to the delight of the coaches (and the irritation of the starters). The Browns, after a stretch of some struggles that week, were terrific that day. Isaiah, especially.
When at their best, according to Green:
* On Isaiah: “A big, athletic, physical SEC body. He has a high motor. When he plays under control he is an effective player. Just needs to keep the game simple. Crash hard, throw his body around.”
* On AJ: “He needs to get his rhythm back and hunt shots. He’s a very good shooter. He’s got a slow and smooth release, but he’s a smart enough player to get it off and know he has to be aggressive on offense. It’s harder on the white team, but they’ve been practicing long enough to understand what they’re up against, who they’re up against and what they need to do.”
In other words, keep working, keep competing as if it was a driveway grudge match.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu Find his story archives here.
All fall practices and scrimmages are open to the public. Fans can access the concourse through Gate 3 of Condron Family Ballpark (located directly behind home plate).
Below is the current practice schedule for week three. All practice and approximate scrimmage times are subject to change.
| Date | Practice | Scrimmage |
|---|---|---|
| Monday, Oct. 20 | OFF | OFF |
| Tuesday, Oct. 21 | 2:00 PM | NONE |
| Wednesday, Oct. 22 | 2:00 PM | 3:45 PM |
| Thursday, Oct. 23 | 2:00 PM | NONE |
| Friday, Oct. 24 | 2:00 PM | 3:45 PM |
| Saturday, Oct. 25 | 10:00 AM | 12:00 PM |
| Sunday, Oct. 26 | 10:00 AM | 11:45 AM |
| Monday, Oct. 27 | OFF | OFF |
*Scrimmages typically begin approximately 90 minutes to two hours into each practice
Additionally, Florida’s fall season features exhibition games against JU in Jacksonville (Oct. 31) and Georgia Southern at Condron Family Ballpark (Nov. 10). Tickets for the Florida-Jacksonville exhibition are currently available for purchase.
Important Fall Dates
| Friday, Oct. 31 | 6:30 PM | Florida vs. JU (in Jacksonville) |
| Sunday, Nov. 9 | 1:00 PM | Florida vs. Georgia Southern (Condron Family Ballpark) |
Stay informed on all the most-recent news on Florida baseball by checking FloridaGators.com and following @GatorsBB on social media.
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