Storm forecast to hit Category 5 as Florida orders evacuations

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take off for New Orleans on Tuesday, well in advance of their Week 6 contest against the host Saints, the NFL club announced.

NFL teams generally travel to road games a day or two ahead of kickoff.

But with Hurricane Milton quickly moving toward Tampa, the Bucs elected to move their weekly game prep to New Orleans, where they’ll play the Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Tampa International Airport officials announced they’ll be suspending “all commercial and cargo operations” at 9 a.m. Tuesday and it wil remain “closed to the public until it can assess any damage after the storm.”

Hurricane Milton has the potential to bring “catastrophic storm surge, high winds and heavy rain to Tampa Bay and all of Florida’s Gulf Coast,” according to an airport statement.

The state’s fourth busiest airport “anticipates reopening after a damage assessment that will begin as soon as it is safe to do so,” the statement continued.

Major airlines such as Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, United and Virgin Atlantic run flights out of TPA.

Hillsborough County issued a mandatory evacuation for Evacuation Zones A an B, for all mobile homes and manufactured housing starting at 2:30 p.m. today. Those residents should be in a safe location by 7 a.m. Wednesday. Nine shelters will be opened in mandatory evacuation zones. 

Sarasota County today also called for evacuations for those in levels A and B (which includes barrier islands), and those in mobile or manufactured homes. Those living in level C “should be prepared to evacuate if the storm intensifies.”

In the coastal city of Anna Maria, south of Tampa, a mandatory order begins at midday. Pinellas County has begun mandatory evacuations for long-term care facilities.

The National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon. NBC News’ Jesse Kirsch reports on how debris leftover from Hurricane Helene could become a hazard in Milton’s high speed winds.