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By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
5 minute read
Published 4:49 PM EDT, Tue October 8, 2024
Congested highway lanes are seen in St. Petersburg, Florida, as thousands evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton on October 7.
CNN —
Driving on highway shoulders, gas shortages and booked up hotels.
Those are some of the complications Floridians are facing as they make and execute plans to leave their homes under the largest evacuation order they’ve seen since 2017. They’re bracing for Hurricane Milton less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene pummeled Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 storm, leaving at least 20 dead in the state with officials warning Milton’s impact could be even more severe and far-reaching.
“I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Monday, strongly urging residents to heed the warnings before it’s too late.
The state’s Division of Emergency Management is preparing for the largest evacuation since 2017, Director Kevin Guthrie said Sunday at a news conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who declared a state of emergency for 51 of the state’s 67 counties.
Rich Lorenzen and his son Sam Grande carry their belongings as they prepare to evacuate their home before the arrival of Hurricane Milton, St. Pete Beach, Florida, on October 7.
And as if residents don’t have enough to worry about as they try to evacuate, the National Weather Service office in Miami warns scattered tornadoes might hinder those emergency plans.
“Several places may experience tornado damage with a few spots of considerable damage, power loss, and communication failures,” the agency said.
Highway shoulder opens for evacuees
To help facilitate evacuations, people using interstate highways to flee can use the left shoulder lane to keep traffic moving, theFloridaDepartment of Transportation announced on Monday, a move that’s typically reserved only for emergencies such as hurricanes.
“To help facilitate evacuations … Emergency Shoulder Use (ESU) plans are actively being put in place for Eastbound I-4 and portions of Northbound I-75,” theFloridaDOT said in apost on X.
Thetraffic flow changes are also meant to ensure that supplies, emergency services and utility crews can get to areas potentially impacted by the storm.
“Law enforcement and signage will alert motorists on when to enter and exit the shoulder,” the agency added.
Florida is also waiving tolls on Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway, two parts of a state road that extends north from Tampa, so they can be used as evacuation routes, DeSantis said Tuesday.
A family walks back up a sand-coated street on Saturday, October 12, after checking on their storm-damaged home in Manasota Key, Florida.
A toppled tree lies on a home in Manasota Key, Florida, on Saturday.
Connie Gore, left, is comforted by her friend and neighbor Cecelia Smith on Friday, October 11, after a tornado caused by Hurricane Milton devastated her home in Martin County, Florida.
A person walks through a flooded street from the rising Anclote River in New Port Richey, Florida, on Friday.
Stranded vehicles are viewed in a flooded Daytona Beach, Florida, neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, on Friday.
Houses sit destroyed in Port St Lucie, Florida, on Friday after a tornado hit the area and caused severe damage as the hurricane swept through.
Robert Turick stands in one of his home's bedrooms, where the high water mark from Hurricane Milton can be seen on the wall, in Englewood, Florida, on Friday. A small positive, Turick said, is that he hadn't yet begun repairs after Hurricane Helene brought 3-foot flood waters, and he, his dog, and his daughter were staying elsewhere when Milton flooded his home around to 5 feet.
A rescue team checks a damaged property in Manasota Key, Florida, on Friday.
The rails of a pool ladder are all that is visible Friday of a pool that was filled with sand after the passage of Hurricane Milton in Venice, Florida.
This bridge in Riverview, Florida, seen on Friday, was damaged by Milton.
A man cleans debris inside a gas station in Lakewood Park, Florida, on Thursday, October 10. A tornado caused by Milton hit the area.
A tree toppled by the storm lies atop a home in Siesta Key, Florida, on Thursday.
Boats are piled up on a pier after they were washed ashore when Milton passed through Punta Gorda, Florida, on Thursday.
Liz Kelly and her son Matt salvage items from their destroyed home in North Fort Myers, Florida, on Thursday. A tornado associated with Hurricane Milton ripped through their neighborhood. Matt dove on top of his mother as the roof was peeling off the home. She says he saved her life.
A vehicle drives though a flooded street in Siesta Key on Thursday.
Members of the Volusia Sheriff's Office rescue residents from a flooded area of South Daytona, Florida, on Thursday.
A house lies toppled off its stilts after Milton passed through Florida's Bradenton Beach.
The roof of Tropicana Field, destroyed by Milton, was shredded in St. Petersburg on Thursday. Tropicana Field is the home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays.
Austin Stolpe clears mud from the floor of the Celtic Ray Public House after it was inundated with floodwaters in Punta Gorda.
People look at an uprooted tree in Odessa, Florida, on Thursday.
A man cleans sand off a beach-side condominium unit in Venice on Thursday.
Cars move slowly through Matlacha, Florida, on Thursday after Hurricane Milton damaged power lines.
A person rides a bicycle past a damaged building in the Palmetto Beach neighborhood of Tampa on Thursday.
A boat and debris are seen along a road in Bradenton, Florida, on Thursday.
People walk near damaged beachside property in Venice on Thursday.
The building that houses the Tampa Bay Times newspaper was damaged when a construction crane fell during the storm in St. Petersburg, Florida.
People are rescued from an apartment complex in Clearwater on Thursday.
Debris clogs a roadway in Siesta Key on Thursday.
A satellite image captures Hurricane Milton reaching the coast of Florida on Wednesday, October 9.
A man in Sarasota, Florida, records the storm as it makes landfall on Wednesday.
The Segundo family, who evacuated from nearby Davis Island, plays a board game at a hotel in Tampa on Wednesday.
Brandon Marlow walks through a flooded street in Fort Myers, Florida, on Wednesday.
Marie Cook reacts to her damaged home after a tornado formed by Milton touched down in Wellington, Florida, on Wednesday.
Stephen Lundgren lies on the floor of the Vanguard High School cafeteria as he tries to get some sleep at the Ocala, Florida, shelter on Wednesday.
Ron Rook, who said he was looking for people in need of help or debris to clear, walks down a deserted street in downtown Tampa on Wednesday.
Check-in kiosks are covered in protective plastic at Orlando International Airport on Wednesday. The airport ceased operations at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies attend to residents affected by a reported tornado in Wellington on Wednesday.
People walk through the Disney Springs shopping complex in Orlando ahead of the hurricane's arrival on Wednesday.
Payton Wyse and Andrew Goncharsky pack what they can as they evacuate their Fort Myers apartment on Wednesday.
Christian Burke stands at the door of his home in Gulfport, Florida, on Wednesday. Outside, a boat sits on its side due to Hurricane Helene.
A Lee County deputy sheriff talks to a driver near the Fort Myers Beach bridge, which was closed on Wednesday.
Connor Ferran surveys what is left of his Fort Myers home after what appeared to be a tornado tore the roof off on Wednesday. Milton spawned several tornadoes as it neared landfall.
Nicolette Mariano, CEO and aquaculture biologist for her oyster farm, Treasure Coast Shellfish, secures oysters from the farm's dockside nursery in Sebastian, Florida, on Wednesday.
An employee of Roofs Done Right attaches metal shutters to a building in Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
Ted Carlson puts McKenzie, a cat belonging to his friend Evan Purcell, into a pickup truck as they evacuate Purcell's home on Florida's Anna Maria Island on Tuesday, October 8. "This place couldn't handle Helene," Carlson said. "It's all going to be gone."
Members of the Florida Army National Guard check for any remaining residents in nearly deserted Bradenton Beach on Tuesday. Around them, piles of debris from Hurricane Helene still sit outside damaged homes.
A man wades through a street in Havana, Cuba, that was flooded on Wednesday.
A hospital worker walks by as an AquaFence flood wall is put into place around Tampa General Hospital on Tuesday.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick shared this photo from the International Space Station on Tuesday. "We flew over Hurricane Milton about 90 minutes ago," he said. "Here is the view out the Dragon Endeavour window."
Aurelio Ortiz sits in his flooded home in Celestún, Mexico, on Tuesday.
Debris from homes flooded by Hurricane Helene is piled up on curbs in Port Richey, Florida, on Tuesday.
People prepare sandbags in Orlando on Tuesday.
John Fedor waits for transportation to a shelter after his flight was canceled at the Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.
David Jalving throws outdoor furniture into his father's pool in Fort Myers to prepare for Hurricane Milton.
Heavy traffic flows northbound on Interstate 75 as people evacuate the Tampa Bay area late on Monday, October 7.
A man clears debris left by Hurricane Helene from his home in Treasure Island, Florida, on Monday.
A dock is damaged in St. Pete Beach, Florida, on Monday.
Piles of debris from Hurricane Helene remain uncollected in Treasure Island on Monday.
Domenic Gerald takes a break to watch the latest forecast while packing up his father's vacation home in Fort Myers Beach on Monday.
A man in Progreso boards up an apartment building to protect it from Hurricane Milton on Monday.
Contractors in New Port Richey help clean debris left by Hurricane Helene.
Tropicana Field opened Monday as a staging site for workers and operations. Part of its roof was later torn off during the storm.
Customers check mostly empty bread shelves at a shopping warehouse in Kissimmee, Florida, on Sunday, October 6.
In pictures: Hurricane Milton unleashes its fury
The Department of Transportation is monitoringtrafficconditions along emergency shoulder routes as residents evacuate, and it said although heavy and slow, “trafficis still flowing and moving as intended.”
As many of the evacuees head north into Georgia through Atlanta, Peach Pass, the state’s electronic toll system, is also making traffic changes to assist the overflow of traffic, shifting some of its southbound lanes into northbound lanes, the toll authority said Monday.
Available hotels are hard to find
For those leaving their homes, alternative accommodation in hotels or rental properties is turning out to be costly and difficult to find as many are at capacity.
The Florida-based hotel group Rosen Hotels & Resorts activated its Florida Resident Distress Rates for those in need of a place to stay in other parts of the state. Meanwhile, cities as far as 400 miles north, such as Dothan, Alabama, have reported no vacancy at their area hotels.
Expedia, Priceline and vacation rental site Vrbo activated emergency policies for travelers whose vacation plans will be affected by Hurricane Milton, according to their sites.
For campers or recreational vehicle owners looking for a safe place to travel to, AtlantaMotorSpeedway is opening its campgrounds to the hundreds of thousands of people evacuating their Florida homes. It’s providing dry camping, with no water or electricity hookups, free of charge in its Legends Premium Campground for RVs and Legends Tent Campground for pop-up campers and tents, Executive Vice President and General Manager Brandon Hutchison said in a news release.
“We have hundreds of acres of campgrounds and opening up our facility is an easy choice to make,” Hutchison said. “If you’re in Milton’s path and looking for a place to stay, we’re here for you.”
Located 30 miles south ofAtlantain Hampton, Georgia, thespeedwayis making campgrounds freely available to evacuees for RV and tents, providing access to shower facilities in collaboration with the Henry County Emergency Management Agency.
The campgrounds hosted evacuees during previous hurricanes including Irma in 2017, Florence in 2018 and Idalia last year, thespeedwaysaid.
Gas stations running out of fuel
Further complicating the evacuation process is demand for gasoline. The state ofFloridais trying to keep gas stations supplied as people try to fill up before hitting the road. Others who decide to ride out the severe weather at home are also crowding the pumps, filling gas tanks to power their generators if they lose electricity for an extended period of time.
Residents purchase fuel at a St. Petersburg, Florida, gas station ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall on Monday, October 7.
“Lines at gas stations have been long,” DeSantis acknowledged Tuesday during a news conference. “Gas stations are running out quicker than they otherwise would.”
Gas price tracking service GasBuddy reported that as of Tuesday afternoon, 17.4% of gas stations statewide were without fuel, a dramatic spike from just 3% on Monday. The situation was far worse in areas facing mandatory evacuation orders. In Fort Myers, on the state’s Gulf Coast, 70% of stations were without gas as of Monday night.
To help combat those shortages, the state is distributing fuel from its own reserves, which include more than 100,000 gallons of gasoline. An additional 1.2 million gallons of gasoline and diesel are en route to the state, the governor said, noting the Florida Highway Patrol escorted 27 fuel trucks to deliver fuel to stations in the anticipated impact area of the storm.
CNN’s Chris Boyette, Liz Enochs, Andy Rose, Chris Isidore and Matt Egan contributed to this report.
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