Thousands of people are scrambling to flee Florida as catastrophic Hurricane Milton threatens a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St Petersburg, engulfing the region with towering storm surges. Terrified Floridians are rushing to safety after local officials issued a stark warning overnight advising residents to 'flee or die' before the monster storm packs furious winds and gushes walls of water inland tomorrow.
Drivers are sitting in standstill traffic this morning as the state's major highways are clogged with miles-long lines of cars trying to flee the line of danger. Traffic is jammed both north and southbound as locals seek shelter out-of-state and in Miami.
The window has also nearly closed for people to escape the region by plane as airports in Tampa, St Petersburg and Orlando have already started grounding flights. Residents who have accepted they won't be able to flee and are preparing to hunker down, have begun panic buying supplies, stripping store shelves of bottled water, toilet paper and other household necessities. Those who are still desperate to escape and follow evacuation orders say it may be too 'dangerous' to hit the roads because local gas stations have run out of fuel.
However, Governor Ron DeSantis this morning assured residents that there's enough fuel for them to get away from the storm. Milton was so strong overnight that experts called for it to be given unprecedented Category 6 status, however the hurricane was downgraded to a Category 4 early this morning. Forecasters warn Milton is 'expected to grow in size' and remain 'an extremely dangerous hurricane' when it makes landfall tomorrow.
Residents were seen at Costco in Orlando stocking up on bottled water, paper towels, toilet paper and other essentials ahead of Hurricane Milton's arrival. Floridians have posted 'fuel updates' on social media, alerting their neighbours where gas is still available in the community. A resident this morning revealed that in Port Charlotte, Florida, 'some gas stations are out of fuel' but that they were able to get gas at Wawa.
