The race to escape is on as an already battered Florida braces for another powerful hurricane.
Milton re-strengthened Tuesday into a category five storm with sustained winds of 157 mph or higher.
According to NOAA, a category five storm will cause catastrophic damage. A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas, and power outages will last for weeks to possibly months.
"Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months," according to NOAA's Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Airports from Tampa to Orlando are shutting down because of Hurricane Milton.
At Love Field in Dallas, some travelers are grateful they caught some final flights out of central Florida before Milton hits.
“Very relieved, but we still have to Uber back to our car at DFW because we flew American and then had to fly Southwest to get back,” said Rockwall resident Jillian Lee.
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Le, her husband, two kids, and parents returned Tuesday afternoon from Orlando, where they had to cut their Disney vacation short because of the storm.
They were supposed to fly back Thursday from Orlando.
“They told my parents they couldn’t get a flight until October 17 so we were afraid to get stuck there and so we just decided to drive to another state get back,” said Le.
They drove to Savannah, Georgia, about four hours north of Orlando, to catch a flight, fleeing Florida in the largest evacuations in years.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic could be seen on most major Interstates in the state.
Broderick Scott is visiting family in east Texas but lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, which could be directly affected.
Scott was supposed to fly home Monday but decided to stay in Texas until Milton passed.
“I kind of know what I’m going back to. Am I concerned? Yes, you know, losing a lot of things, but at the end of the day, those are all material things, not my life, so my life is more important. Those things can be replaced,” said Scott.
NOAA hurricane hunters braved a bumpy ride to collect critical data about the more than 300-mile-wide hurricane, which is expected to make landfall overnight Wednesday into Thursday.
Tampa International Airport suspended flights at 8 a.m. Orlando International Airport will shut down at 7 a.m.
