TAMPA, Fla.—Millions of displaced evacuees are bunkered inland. And more than 50,000 electrical linemen; 34 search-and-rescue teams; and thousands of National Guard soldiers, law enforcement officers, and first responders from more than 20 states are entrenched, poised to face a monster unlike any seen in Florida for decades.
As of mid-afternoon Oct. 9, the outer bands of Hurricane Milton were battering central Florida with increasingly heavy rains and thunderstorms sprouting strings of tornado alerts, the opening salvos of what will be a long night’s journey to a day that dawns on a violently reshaped landscape.
Milton at 7 p.m. was a category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds of 120 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expected Milton to make landfall as an “extremely dangerous major hurricane” sometime between 10 p.m. and midnight somewhere in southern Sarasota County, about 40 miles south of Tampa Bay.
On Oct. 9, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told residents still holding out in flood zones and surge areas that time was running out for them to get to safer ground.
“You still have time to make the decision to ensure your safety,” he said. “You do not have to get on the interstate and drive to Georgia. You don’t have to drive to Pensacola. You can go to a local shelter, which would be likely tens of miles away.”
Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said 149 general shelters are open across the state. They can accommodate more than 200,000 residents, and as of 10 a.m. on Oct. 9, the total shelter population was approximately 31,000 people.
DeSantis said state officials have not yet picked an exact time when people should shelter in place because “it just depends on where you are and what the conditions are.” However, he said that conditions will worsen throughout the day.
“I would advise probably just [going] into the shelter right now, rather than trying to get on the interstate,” he said.
President Joe Biden urged Floridians in Hurricane Milton’s path to follow the safety instructions of local officials as the storm nears landfall.
“It’s looking like the storm of the century,” Biden warned in a live broadcast from the Oval Office on Oct. 9.
“I know it’s really tough to leave behind your home, your belongings, everything you own, but I urge everyone in Hurricane Milton’s path to follow all safety instructions as we head to the next 24 hours. It’s a matter of—literally—a matter of life and death.”
The NHC said Milton “is expected to still be a major hurricane ... likely to be a category 3 or 4 strength at landfall.”
Even though there will be some decay in wind force as the storm tears across Florida, NHC said that “Milton is anticipated to move off the east coast of Florida on Thursday still as a hurricane.”
The Tampa Bay area, home to more than 3.3 million people, has not been directly hit by a hurricane for more than 100 years. Spans of central Florida to its east, along Interstate 4 from Lakeland to Daytona, have not seen winds topping 100 miles per hour since 2004’s Hurricane Charley.
Many areas on the state’s Gulf Coast, including Tampa, remain swamped from Hurricane Helene’s storm surge. Streets in some communities are lined with debris—potential missile hazards when Milton comes ashore.
Outside Tampa’s mandatory evacuation zones, residents gathered at Pach’s Place on the morning of Oct. 9 for breakfast.
Owner Cathy Maes told The Epoch Times that her objective was to make sure that people in the neighborhood, people staying in the adjoining Tahitian Inn, and local Tampa police officers had a warm meal.
Even as the most powerful storm to possibly ever hit Tampa Bay approached, Pach’s Place regulars found their way to their usual tables, and the morning’s conversations filled the air with a sense of normalcy.
Maes said she was not surprised at all by the amount of regulars who were there.
Thursday, Oct. 10, will be the first day she has closed her restaurant since she purchased it from her mother in 2018. She even kept her doors open during COVID-19.
“It pains me,” she said, “but for the safety of my crew, I just can’t do that. They love me and I love them, and that’s why they love me, because I don’t make it risky for them.”
But she told The Epoch Times that once the storm passes, her cafe community will come back together, and staff and patrons alike will be ready to help each other recover from yet another storm.
She told The Epoch Times that the home of one of her waitresses got flooded during Hurricane Helene, and that the community not only came together to help clean out her home, but also raised thousands of dollars in a GoFundMe to help her get back on her feet.
“One by one, we'll go and do whatever we can, and it’s beautiful, and we do it with a joyful heart,” Maes said. “Everyone’s happy to just be able to help financially, some physically, but we help with all kinds.
All Creatures, Large and Small
All creatures, large and small, were hunkering down as the storm approached.ZooTampa closed on Oct. 7, two days ahead of Milton’s anticipated landfall.
Keepers worked to execute their hurricane plans to make animals as ready as possible to ride out the storm in safety. The zoo plans to reopen on Oct. 11.
Larger animals were moved to their night houses, which are built to withstand major storms, ZooTampa Communications Director Sandra Morrison told The Epoch Times. Smaller mammals and birds were tucked away in other buildings.
During the storm, a “ride-out team” was planning to stay on-site to care for the animals.
This summer, ZooTampa earned special certification from the National Weather Service for being storm-ready. The facility reported that it was the first Florida zoo not affiliated with a theme park to receive the recognition.
A little way north, in Ocala, the World Equestrian Center opened yet again to equine evacuees.
“We don’t have a final count yet, but should be around 2,500 horses that we were able to accommodate,” Leah Tong, marketing director, told The Epoch Times.
“Our equine operations team has been working tirelessly all week to process reservations and ensure owners are finding their stalls. We are prepared and ready to ride out the storm.”
Ahead of Milton, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told animal-concerned residents how to help wildlife in the storm’s path.
“The best way people can stay safe and help wildlife under storm conditions is to be alert and give wildlife their space,” spokeswoman Lisa Thompson wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. “People should not attempt a wildlife rescue during or after a hurricane or tropical storm if that would place them in a potentially dangerous situation.”
People who see injured, sick, orphaned, or dead sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, panthers, or bears always are asked to call the agency’s wildlife alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
Across the state, animal shelters in low-lying areas had been moving their furry residents to higher ground.
The Alachua County Animal Resources staff posted on social media: “We are completely blown away by the overwhelming response we received to our storm foster plea! We sent out over 60 animals today. ... We can NEVER thank you, our community, enough for stepping up and helping us EMPTY THE SHELTER!”
A “very small handful of dogs” remained, and staff said they still hoped to find foster homes for those animals before closing.
Waiting for Milton
As Milton barreled toward southwest Florida on Oct. 9, tropical storm warnings were issued as far north as Savannah, Georgia, roughly 200 miles from the projected path of the hurricane’s center.In Jacksonville Beach, on the far east end of Milton’s projected romp across Florida, resident Judi Spann and her husband are riding out the storm just four blocks from the shore, but they said they aren’t too worried about the three to five feet of storm surge anticipated for that area.
“Amazingly, we are technically not in a flood zone, so that is good for us,” Spann told The Epoch Times.
She noted that during past storms, when their area was expected to flood, they evacuated, only to return and find their house untouched.
This time, since Jacksonville is falling north of Milton’s projected path, the couple are staying put.
“What we’ve done to prepare is we have our generator, and we’ve gassed that up,” Spann said. “We’ve filled both of our cars with gas. We have extra gas tanks that we’ve filled up, in case the power does go out for a long period of time.”
While the generator won’t power their whole house, it should be enough to keep their refrigerator and freezer running, along with their cell phones and a few lights.
They have also stocked up on emergency supplies, drained some of the water from their pool, and brought in all of their outdoor furniture.
Now, they’re just hoping for the best—for themselves and their fellow Floridians.
She said she’s particularly worried for those on the Gulf and barrier islands who were forced to evacuate ahead of the storm. The possibility that they could return and find that their homes are gone—“that’s just a horrible feeling,” she said.
Sarasota Bracing
That’s a possibility faced by many in the Sarasota area, where Milton is projected to come ashore with a storm surge that could reach up to 15 feet.The New College of Florida, situated right on the coastline, could also sustain severe damage.
In anticipation of the deadly deluge, the college evacuated its entire campus on Oct. 7. The only staff who will stay for the storm are campus police, according to New College Communications Director Nathan March.
“After the storm subsides, critical staff will return and assess the campus and form the plan for restoring operations,” March told The Epoch Times. “The most important thing is all students, faculty, and staff have had time to ensure their physical safety for the storm.”
Storm Surge of Rumors
DeSantis had to pause during an Oct. 9 update to address a deluge of rumors and false information. Local and state emergency management officials have been battling misinformation as they attempt to keep residents accurately informed about Hurricane Milton’s approaching menace.He cautioned people to dismiss false claims, such as a rumor of “collusion” between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and a security team that will not let people back into their homes after the storm has passed.
Not only is that untrue, DeSantis said, but FEMA plays no role in such decisions. The state, not the federal government, is completely in charge of responding to natural disasters.
The governor signed an executive order last week that specifically states that anyone evacuated has “a right to immediately return to your home following the storm” as “a default,” he said.
“This is your private property,” DeSantis said. “This is your home. You have a right to go back. So that’s in our executive order.”
According to DeSantis, this rumor is concerning because it encourages people not to evacuate.
“I think most people are wise to this,” he said. “We live in an era where if you put out crap online, you can get a lot of people to share it, and you can monetize that. That’s just the way it is. But if you’re hearing things, something that’s just outrageous, just know in the state of Florida, none of that stuff would ever fly. So you don’t have to worry about that.”
Similar waves of misinformation have plagued Helene response and recovery efforts, most notably in western North Carolina, where FEMA has been accused online of all sorts of misdeeds and actions, even of using helicopters to stop private groups from bringing supplies to suffering people.
None of it is true, FEMA Region 10 Director Willie Nunn, the senior agency official in the Southeast, told The Epoch Times.
“We do not have any air assets or ‘FEMA helicopters,’” he said as he prepared to board a flight from South Carolina to Tallahassee, where he’ll be stationed in the state’s emergency management center.
FEMA is not a first responder in an emergency, Nunn explained. The federal agency’s role is to provide support in preparation and in the response, and then to coordinate the recovery efforts.
“We work with the state, whatever request they have, the agency will meet it,” he said, adding that FEMA will pre-position anticipated supplies and resources by coordinating with the state about where those evacuations will be.
“So we can look at where they are deploying so we can be pre-postured,” he said. “We are in lockstep with the state.”
If there are bottlenecks in getting supplies and assistance to disaster zones, the responsible parties are not federal agents but those in charge—local and state emergency management officials.
Nunn said that when people hear or read things on social media about FEMA, they should keep two things in mind.
“One, if it’s not helping people before, during, or in the aftermath,” then FEMA is not involved, he said. “Second, listen to local officials that you trust.” Those trusted officials know what is happening, not the federal government in Washington, he said.
Wayne Sallade, former emergency management director for Charlotte County, Florida, said combating misinformation in an emergency is part of the job.
“Well, let’s understand one thing: All disasters are local until such time that the local emergency managers say the locals can no longer handle it,” said Sallade, who lectures on emergency management through Colorado Mesa University. “Let’s use Buncombe County, [North Carolina], for an example. It was quickly understood this was beyond their capability to respond, and that it fell upon the state to respond.”
Some of the criticism levied at FEMA in North Carolina underscores how the state, not the federal agency, spearheads emergency response.
Sallade said there’s a difference between North Carolina’s response and Florida’s response to Helene because Florida was better prepared and knew the storm would hit. No one had any idea the storm would do what it did in western North Carolina, he said.
“I do think there is a lot of misinformation out there,” he said. “FEMA, they’re not first responders. It’s not their role. FEMA is being vilified and some of it isn’t fair.”
Sallade said he knows “FEMA people” who are “not even wearing their shirts because they become targets.”
“It’s one of those things you have to swing through the punches,” he said.
“I know Florida is as prepared as it can be. DeSantis has been a remarkable responder. He’s always been ahead in this game. He and the state are showing it again.”
“When you do this for 30 years, you can’t just walk away and go cold turkey,” he said, noting he has 50,000 Facebook followers tracking Hurricane Milton with him.
DeSantis, during his Oct. 9 morning update, repeatedly emphasized that the state is leading the response and that the state is making any and all decisions in guiding that response.
As the governor, his authority under an emergency declaration means that all responsibility is on his shoulders alone.
“I know there’s been a lot of stuff about what FEMA has done in other states,” DeSantis said. “I don’t know, but I can tell you, in Florida, we are leading this train. FEMA is not leading this show. We are leading this show.”
