Last updated: Oct. 9, 8 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Millions of people are evacuating parts of Florida that are in the path of Hurricane Milton, which returned to Category 5 status on Tuesday afternoon.
Milton could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from Helene’s devastation about two weeks ago into projectiles.
Floridians are once again trying to get out of harm’s way. Some evacuees, like Pam Daley, landed at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday morning. Flights out of Tampa were all booked, so she drove to Orlando and waited for a flight out.
“It was delayed three times,” she said. “Finally, our original flight was supposed to leave at nine something last night — we were delayed until 6 o’clock this morning.”
She paid $700 per ticket for the Frontier flight, but she’s relieved to be out of harm’s way.
“I’m not complaining. I’m not whining. There’s a lot worse off than the fact that I was able to get on a plane.”
Chanel visited Orlando for a wedding and made it back home to Philadelphia, but other family members are still there.
“We have family that’s still there that may have to stay because their flights are on Wednesday, and now [Orlando International Airport is] gonna be closed Wednesday,” she said.
Some University of Tampa students from the Philly region also returned home for the week, as classes are canceled. Nicholas Kepfinger’s flight was delayed for hours overnight, and getting dinner at the airport was a challenge, too.
“There were no food options open,” he said. “It was so late, so it was brutal. I was starving. And I had to go out again where security was. I had to leave just to get McDonald’s, and the line to get back in was so long.”
Stuck in Milton’s wake
It’s easily the worst vacation John Fedor and his wife Laura have ever been on. After losing their phone on a Caribbean cruise, they missed their flight home to Philadelphia — and then missed the flight they rebooked Tuesday morning, after the bus they took to the Tampa airport was delayed.
“It’s just been utter hell,” Fedor said.
With the city’s airport closing its doors at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, the Fedors are among those who are now stuck in this city ahead of a major hurricane the likes of which the Tampa Bay region hasn’t seen in a century.
“We looked into driving home, taking the train home,” he said, but nothing worked out.
“We don’t really have a whole lot of options … we’re kind of like stranded here.”
Milton’s path
The National Hurricane Center said Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf coast late Wednesday or early Thursday. As of Wednesday morning, the storm was about 300 miles southwest of Tampa with sustained winds of 160 mph.
“While fluctuations in intensity are expected, Milton is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida,” it said.
The entire Gulf Coast of Florida is especially vulnerable to storm surge. Hurricane Helene came ashore some 150 miles away from Tampa in the Florida Panhandle and still managed to cause drowning deaths in the Tampa area due to surges of around 5 to 8 feet above normal tide levels.
With Milton, forecasters warn of a possible 10- to 15-foot storm surge in Tampa Bay. It is the highest surge ever predicted for that location and has led to evacuation orders for communities all along the coast.
The county that’s home to Tampa ordered areas adjacent to the bay and all mobile and manufactured homes to be evacuated by Tuesday night. With a predicted storm surge that could swallow a single-story house, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued increasingly dire warnings Tuesday to those planning to ride out the storm: “So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in."
Milton is forecast to cross central Florida and dump as much as 18 inches of rain while heading toward the Atlantic Ocean, according to the hurricane center.
Travel plans nixed
Tampa International Airport halted flights Tuesday morning, posting on X that it is not a shelter for people or their cars. And nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it is in a mandatory evacuation zone and closed after the last flight left Tuesday. It said all flights were canceled Wednesday and Thursday.
Flights to and from Florida were canceled at Philadelphia International Airport on Wednesday, and there is concern that there could be a ripple effect in the days ahead. The PHL departure board on Wednesday morning showed flights to Orlando, Tampa, Fort Meyers and Sarasota were canceled.
There were no widespread issues otherwise, but that could change as planes and flight crews were repositioned leading up to Milton, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson Jana Tidwell.
“We may not see huge numbers of cancelations or delays here at PHL, but there’s a chance that the flight that you are planning to take — supposed to take today, tomorrow and the coming days — was supposed to come here from somewhere in Florida,” Tidwell explained.
Travelers are advised to get text and email alerts from their airlines so they are instantly notified of any flight changes. Airlines capped their fares and waived change fees for those affected by the storm. President Joe Biden warned airlines and other companies not to price gouge.
The tourism machine in Orlando, about 84 miles inland from Tampa, started grinding to a halt Tuesday. Orlando International Airport — the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked — said it would cease operations Wednesday morning. And at least three major theme parks — Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld — will close, with the latter two also remaining closed on Thursday and Disney likely to follow suit.
“The challenge with Disney is it is often a huge investment for families,” Tidwell said. “Not just the time but the financial investment to take on that type of family vacation. Disney issued a hurricane policy on its website for those who will be affected by the storm.
An unusual hurricane season
Explosively intensifying Hurricane Milton is the latest freaky system to come out of what veteran hurricane scientists call the weirdest storm season of their lives.
Before this Atlantic hurricane season started, forecasters said everything lined up to be a monster busy year, and it began that way when Beryl was the earliest storm to reach Category 5 on record. Then, nothing. From Aug. 20 — the traditional start of peak hurricane season — to Sept. 23, it was record quiet, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Then five hurricanes popped up between Sept. 26 and Oct. 6, more than double the old record of two. On Sunday and Monday, there were three hurricanes in October at the same time — something that never happened before — Klotzbach said. In just 46 ½ hours, Hurricane Milton went from just forming as a tropical storm with 40 mph winds to a top-of-the-charts Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds, and then it got even stronger.
“I was looking as far back as the Atlantic records go and there’s not really any good analogs for this season, just how neurotic it’s been,” Klotzbach said. “You know, obviously the season ain’t over yet. We’ll see what pops up after Milton.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.