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 5 Hurricane Milton is expected to hit west-central Florida Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is forecast to double its size ahead of landfall.
“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.
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 hitting 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.
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