On Floridas east coast, Tampa Bay was spared the storms worst hit.
Just a few miles south, St. Petersburg was not so lucky.
The area saw 18.87 inches of rain from Milton, the most in the state.
Tropicana Field after Hurricane MiltonBryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
Winds there topped out at 101 mph.
Absolutely heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/ZCtPHv6rE9
Our priority is supporting our community and our staff.
In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building.
But it wasnt a just a normal, sped-up team trip.
The team took players familiesandtheir pets along to double-check all were safe.
I think overall, everything went smoothly, siad Head Coach Todd Bowles.
Family is the most important thing right now.
Family is the most important thing.
Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm.
We are also grateful for the hard work of our Team Members during this challenging time.
Guests can visit our website and social channels for more information.
Maximum sustained winds were pegged at 120 mph around 5 p.m. As of that report, the storm was 20 miles WSW of Sarasota.
It was moving NE at 15 mph.
Sarasota airport just recorded a wind gust to 96 mph, according to the NationalWeatherService.
In Venice, sustained winds of 71 mph with gusts to 90 mph were reported.
Governor Ron DeSantis said in a briefing today that a number of massive tornados have hit the state.
Videos of the damage have started to emerge.
Every single hurricane hazard is unfortunately on display today, including a tornado outbreak.
Heres damage from one of the tornadoes that hit Lake Placid.
Storm surges have already overspilled Charlotte Harbor and pushed into the streets of Fort Meyers.
The worst is certainly yet to come.
See below for the latest projections.
The already-massive storm has expanded even further than it had this morning, after it nearly doubled in size.
Thats an expansion of about 80% overnight for the outer edge of the wind field.
Its maximum sustained winds were topping out at 125 mph.
Less good is the fact that the storms expected expansion materialized overnight.
Thats an expansion of about 80% overnight for the outer edge of the wind field.
And it could expand further, per the most recent update from the NWS.
Approximately 5 miles WNW of I-75 and the Miccosukee Service Plaza.
Early this morning, it had dipped to a 150 mph Cat.
Miltons barometric pressure has also continued to drop this afternoon after rising earlier today.
At 2 p.m. pressure fell to 918 mb, down from 929.
At about 5 p.m. PT, the pressure was down even more to 902 mb.
Barometric pressure is thought to be the most accurate predictor of a storms strength and destructiveness.
Currently, Milton is again approaching its nadir of 897 millibars, which it reached on Monday night.
Thats the fifth-lowest reading ever seen in the Atlantic Basin.
Of course, the path will likely shift yet again before landfall sometime tomorrow night.
Milton is forecast to make landfall as a Cat.
Therefore, damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge, and heavy rainfall will extend well outside the forecast cone.
The NWS graphic indicating the arrival of winds had an equally wide spread.
See area in red below on NWS graphic.
It is likely the theme parks will remain closed on Thursday, October 10.
Disney Springs may reopen on Thursday in the late afternoon, with limited offerings.
This includes the cancellation of Mickeys Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom park on Thursday, October 10.
Event tickets will be refunded.
That is expected to put the Orlando metro area at high risk of flash flooding.
NWS also warned of life threatening storm surge along all of Floridas west coast.
Evacuation orders have now been issued for virtually all counties along Floridas west coast.
See red areas on map below.
More important than windspeed andmeteorologists say more accurate is the storms barometric pressure.
To that point, Miltons pressure dropped to 897 millibars on Monday night.
Thats the fifth-lowest reading ever seen in the Atlantic Basin.
Since dropping to 897, Miltons pressure has since come up to 924 mb.
Some attractions are expected to be closed for days after the storm, according to a WDW statement.
Guests trapped inside its resort hotels had the makings of a horror movie.
Instead, WDWcastmembers above-and-beyond carefor those guests was a bright spot in our related coverage.
How Milton impacts the parks remains to be seen.
But Floridas governor is not expecting sunshine.
5 hurricane in near-record time.
According to the National Hurricane Service, only Wilma in 2005 and Felix in 2007 intensified more quickly.
Sporting events are being postponed and some WDW-adjacent Florida theme parks are being closed.
Donald Trumpsscheduled town hallwith Univision was also postponed.
Hotel operations will continue with limited capacity.
The park alsoclosed down during Helene.
Nearby LEGOLAND Florida will be closed on Wednesday, October 9 through Thursday, October 10.
Hotel operations there will also continue with limited capacity.
He also noted that emergency personnel were coming from as far away as rival Gavin Newsoms California.
Milton is expected to slam into Florida near Tampa at around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Even that would be a historic, unprecedented landfall for the vulnerable Tampa Bay region.
Weather Channel meteorologists noted Monday afternoon that storms that start at Cat.
That was the case with Hurricane Katrina.
Per the latest NWS forecast at 4 p.m.
The evolution will likely cause the system to gradually weaken on Tuesday but grow larger.
Thetop sustained winds everfor a cyclone in the region were recorded in 1980 with Hurricane Allen.
Its winds were estimated to have reached 190 mph before it slackened and made landfall in Texas.
Nearly the entire state of Florida besides the Panhandle is under a Flash Flood Watch.
Many of those areas are still piled with debris and wreckage from Helene.
This is Anna Maria Island, near Tampa, after Helene.
A complete loss- looks like a bomb went off.
Heart breaking.pic.twitter.com/YbCJbYBXVc
Smack in the middle of Miltons current predicted path is Tampa Bay and its barrier islands.
That was less that two weeks ago.
The deadliest hurricane in the Tampa regions recorded history was a Cat.
3 storm that hit in October of 1921.
It killed eight people.
Its current population is three million.
In recent history, Tampa Bay has dodged major impacts.
That will no longer be the case after Milton.
Even as Milton weakens it will scour the state.
The inland region is likely to see hurricane-force winds.
ET NWS forecast on Monday.
Video posted online showed the backup.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 mph (150 km/h) with higher gusts.
Milton is forecast to intensify rapidly and become a major hurricane on Monday.
That means Milton will shift from a tropical storm to a Cat.
3 hurricane in the space of 24 hours.
3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale means winds of 111-129 mph.
Thankfully, it is expected to weaken slightly before reaching the west coast of Florida.
According to the chart below, it is expected to make landfall as a major hurricane, likely Cat.
Ron DeSantis said Sunday that most of the state will likely be impacted.
Milton would be the third hurricane to hit the state this year.
Officials told the Tampa Bay Times that Milton could be far worse than Helene.
Sewage systems and power could be out for weeks, according tothe papers reporting.
During Helene, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando mostly stayed open, closing only a few outdoor attractions.
Peppa PigTheme Park Floridaclosed its doorson September 27, after the storm damaged attractions at the preschool experience.
SeaWorld Orlando shut at 2 p.m on the 26th.
Busch Gardens Tampa, Adventure Island, and Aquatica Orlando also shut down that day.
Currently, it looks set to spare hard-hit western North Carolina.
