Hurricane Milton: Evacuation orders grow as storm reaches Category 5

(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — Florida officials are urging residents to evacuate now as Hurricane Milton intensifies and sets its sights on the state’s west coast.

Hours before the storm strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents to take evacuation orders seriously.

“Time is going to start running out very, very soon,” he said at a news conference.

“Please, if you’re in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate,” Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida Emergency Management, urged at the news conference. “Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave.”

More than 50 counties along Florida’s west coast are now under state of emergency orders and several are under evacuation orders, including Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota. All evacuation orders are listed on Florida’s Division of Emergency Management website.

The storm is is expected to weaken, but will still be a major Category 3 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Florida late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

“If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you’re asked to leave by your local officials, please do that,” Michael Brennan, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. “You don’t have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one’s home.”

Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days’ worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.

Ahead of landfall on Monday, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state to allow federal assistance to begin supplementing local efforts.

Flooding is expected, and storm surge is a significant threat.

A record-breaking storm surge of 8 to 12 feet is expected in the Tampa Bay area, as Floridians continue cleaning up from the 6 to 8 feet of storm surge that was just brought on by Hurricane Helene.

As Milton churns closer, Tampa International Airport said it would suspend operations Tuesday at 9 a.m. and remain closed “until it can assess any damage after the storm,” airport officials said. St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport also said it would close Tuesday, and remain shuttered on Wednesday and Thursday.

The University of Florida said it would be canceling classes Wednesday and Thursday, but plan to reopen Friday morning.