Florida opens highway lanes for evacuations from Milton

“Once these orders come from all counties, I think there will be a significant number of people,” the governor said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says there is still a lot of uncertainty about Hurricane Milton, but the state is preparing to open highway shoulders for upcoming mass evacuations.

“We're just dealing with a variety of possibilities, but the certainty is that we're going to have a big impact,” DeSantis said Sunday evening in his second news conference of the day at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.

The storm's reach – currently expected to be Category 3 at landfall – covers the entire Florida Peninsula. The number of people expected to be evacuated could be the largest since Hurricane Irma in 2017, but it is too early to estimate.

Individual districts are making evacuation calls. “Once these orders come in from all counties, I think it will be a significant number of people,” DeSantis said.

The Florida Department of Transportation is monitoring traffic, and once travel speeds drop to 40 mph, the state will begin opening lanes to travel to ease congestion, according to Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue.

Landfall could occur anywhere along a wide swath of the state's Gulf Coast. “Let this uncertainty influence your preparations,” DeSantis said. “You're not going to say with 100 degree certainty where this storm is going to go that far in advance.”

The latest track shows the eye of Hurricane Milton, which is hitting south of Tampa Bay and will bring a storm surge to Sarasota and Charlotte County.

The National Hurricane Center's weather forecast for Sunday at 5 p.m. said Milton was rapidly intensifying with winds of 85 mph and that heavy rain was expected Monday, well before the storm makes landfall Wednesday afternoon.

Officials warned residents that if they live in an area where a storm surge of more than 3 feet (1 meter) is expected they should “seriously consider evacuating.”

Kevin Guthrie, Florida's emergency management director, predicted that parts of Florida's west coast could see storm surge warnings as early as Monday morning, which would determine which counties order evacuations. “There is no better time to put your evacuation plan into action now,” Guthrie said.

Guthrie said the state is fulfilling requests for flood control equipment and continuing to clean up Hurricane Helene's debris “around the clock.”

DeSantis added: “Debris removal is occurring around the clock. You have a storm and less than two weeks later another major or two in a row, that's not easy. That brings with it a lot of challenges.”

He urged local governments to marshal their resources to pick up debris before Milton reaches Florida and not rely solely on state dump trucks. Perdue said the state removed 140,000 cubic yards of debris on Sunday.

The state has set up a base camp at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, to support ongoing debris response and first responders after landing. “We need everyone, all hands on deck,” he said.

Pinellas County said it began mandatory evacuation of some long-term care facilities, hospitals and assisted living facilities in key evacuation zones on Sunday and asked residents living in those zones, as well as those living in mobile homes, to evacuate voluntarily.

In addition, the city of St. Petersburg posted a video on social media of additional trucks arriving to pick up debris from Helene, which was still piled high on some streets.

Dinah Voyle's powder contributed to this. Ana Goni-LessanState Watchdog reporter for USA TODAY Network – Florida can be reached at [email protected].

Florida opens highway lanes for evacuations from Milton

ByVanessa

“Once these orders come from all counties, I think there will be a significant number of people,” the governor said.

By Vanessa

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