The Staniforth Family of Westin Sarasota, Florida, is unsure of where to go after the Monday night storm

People are running out of time in Florida to get out of the way of a potentially catastrophic storm, now expected as early as Wednesday night.

“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

While the storm has weakened considerably, various storm surge, hurricane and tropical storm advisories were still in effect for the area. A storm surge warning remained for the state’s west coast, from Bonita Beach northward to Middle of Longboat Key, including Charlotte Harbor, and from the Sebastian Inlet in the state to Altamaha Sound in Georgia, including the St. Johns River, the NHC said.

“There’s going to be impacts far beyond wherever the eye of the storm is,” DeSantis said Tuesday. You should be working on your plan now. If you’re going to get out, get out now. There is time today. If you don’t act now, time will be running out very soon.

But one 90-year-old resident of Englewood, Fla., a little over 30 miles south of Sarasota, was deciding at the last minute at a gas station whether to head further inland, north or south away from Milton.

He said that he has a house by the bay. He said the weather has been nice. I turned on the tv this morning and they told me to get out of Englewood. He was still unsure of where to go, so he took off.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management encouraged residents to shelter in place and “be vigilant,” as floods, tornadoes and high winds were predicted.

“Obviously life is more important than possessions, so you can always rebuild and recreate what you had,” said Alan Staniforth, a sailing instructor, who evacuated to the Westin Sarasota on Tuesday with his family from his Longboat Key home.

Before fleeing, the Staniforth family tried to fortify their house and put furniture and other possessions on higher ground. His home was renovated four years ago, but he believes that it won’t be safe after the storm.

He said they would probably spend the next 12 to 18 months rebuilding. “It’s going to be a long road to recovery here for everybody, not just us. You take the risk with living down close to the ocean in Florida. It comes with risks but it’s a great lifestyle.

Floods and Winds in Florida, and a warning from the National Park Service (NPR): Emergency Radio Frequencies for Public Works Disaster Response

Staniforth said, “Obviously we don’t know what’s going to happen, but you have to assume the worst and hope for the best.” Don’t freak out, but be pragmatic about it. It’s kind of where we are right now, because FREAKING OUT is not going to help anyone.

The NPR network in Florida has member stations that cover the local impact of a storm. It’s important to note the local station’s emergency radio frequencies for people that might lose power or cell service.

“If the dunes are high enough, they might prevent the flooding from storm surge,” she says. “If they are not high enough to prevent the flooding, these systems can dissipate at least the waves, and protect the ecosystems and infrastructure behind them.”

Low-lying land — coupled with the shallow waters and wide, sloping continental shelf off the west coast — could lead to dangerous flooding from storm surges, hurricane researchers in Florida tell NPR.

Flooding and winds damaged thousands of homes, according to member station WUSF. At least 12 people near Tampa in Pinellas County died because of Helene.

More than 1,200 truckloads of debris have been removed from barrier islands in Pinellas County, and efforts to remove debris in the Tampa Bay region will continue until it’s no longer safe, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.

Milton’s destructive power seen in Tampa Bay when the Tropicana Field roof was torn to shreds by a storm

“The flow can be funneled by buildings and roads,” she says. The roads provide little resistance to the flow, and storm surge may be able to come inland more easily.

She says that the water is pushed against the land by the wind. “The land acts as a barrier to the water flow, and consequently the water accumulates in the coast.”

The shape of the bay and the track of the storm affect how intense the surge will be according to Maitane, a professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Florida.

The broad continental shelf allows for large storm surge, and it can happen even during a storm, according to Thomas Wahl, an associate professor of civil engineering.

Much of the region is at low elevation and naturally prone to flooding. That’s compounded by rising sea levels. According to the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel, the region could experience sea levels rise as much as 8.5 feet by the end of the century due to an increase in water levels.

Tampa Bay is surrounded by the metropolitan areas of Tampa, as well as Clearwater and St. Petersburg — in the state’s most densely populated county, Pinellas. The barrier islands are on the Gulf coast.

But other flood defense projects have been vetoed by DeSantis. A project that would replace 30-year-old stormwater infrastructure in the city of Dunedin in Pinellas County, which sits between the City of Tampa and the Gulf of Mexico, was vetoed for the 2024–25 fiscal year. Other Pinellas County flood defense projects vetoed by DeSantis include plans to install power backups at sewer pumps, purchase emergency generators for fire stations, reroute stormwater, and defend a theater from floodwater.

Authorities said assessing the toll from Milton would have to wait for the daylight hours. But perhaps the most immediate visual expression of Milton’s destructive power was seen in St. Petersburg, where the roof of Tropicana Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, was torn to shreds, NPR member station WUSF reported. There were pieces of the fiberglass roof that were flapping in the wind. Just blocks away from there, a construction site crane collapsed.

The number of people without power grew overnight. By early Thursday morning, the number of customers without power had surpassed 3 million, according to poweroutage.us, with the highest number of outages reported in the western part of the state, including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.