RUSKIN, Fla. — People living in the Tampa Bay area are being urged to evacuate as Hurricane Milton makes its way to the West Coast, making it possibly the second major hurricane to impact the area in just over one week.
WPTV’s Joel Lopez is south of Tampa in Ruskin with a firsthand look at how people are preparing for impacts from the hurricane.
Just north of Manatee County, about 45 minutes from where Milton is expected to make landfall based on current models, people are very anxious as the last hurricane left quite a bit of damage. Earlier today, Hillsborough County's Emergency Management called Hurricane Milton the worst storm they've seen in 100 years.
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"We pretty much accepted, hey, this storm is pretty big, it's not like any other one so we grabbed as much as we can. We're going to leave but we don't know what we're going to come back to," said Alejandro Vallejo.
During Hurricane Helene, Vallejo said his neighborhood got about four feet of storm surge, which flooded out some homes. He felt that was a warning of the damage a hurricane can cause, and has decided to board up his house and evacuate his family.
"They can't fend for themselves so we have to pack up as much as we can and go," said Vallejo.
Thelma Castellano lives in Ruskin, and we met her as neighbors were helping board up her windows. She works at a nursing home and plans to stay there through the storm.
She says she's lived in her house for over 20 years, and it's the first time she's ever boarded up, as she prepares both physically and emotionally to leave her house.
"How much does this home mean to you?" asked Lopez.
“A lot. I’ve been here for a long time. My husband passed away here, I’ve been here for 24 years, my kids grew up here. Thank god for my neighbors that they're able to help me out. I am scared what I'm going to find when I come back," she said.
Tampa Electric announced that they've mobilized 4,500 utility crews to Tampa, the largest deployment of utility workers in the area to help with restoration in the aftermath of the storm.
Gas shortages
The biggest issue we've seen here is out-of-service gas pumps.
We drove around to at least three or four other stations, and it's the same issue.
One gas station worker told me they ran out but they weren't refilling, as they planned to board up their business and prepare it for Hurricane Milton.
At one of those gas stations, I actually ran into a man from Delray Beach who said he was dropping off a friend here after their trip in Orlando, and ran out of gas.
WATCH: Delray Beach resident can't find gas
"The problem is that from over there, there was gas. I didn't even know about being here and that there's no gas," said Jose Philibert.
"Your car, how is it with fuel right now?" asked Lopez.
"I got zero, zero gas."
"Have you been able to find any in town?"
"I've been trying everywhere, they don't give me anything."
Hillsborough County officials said that there are 1.2 million gallons of fuel on the way to the county.
Projectile concerns
People here are very anxious, and haven't had much time to clean up from Hurricane Helene just over a week ago.
Driving through town, you can see busy roads and even side streets here in Ruskin with piles and piles of debris.
The county says that they've already removed over 21,000 yards of debris. But as you can see there's still a lot left to clean, and not a lot of time before the storm.
WATCH: A look at the piles of debris in Ruskin
That’s leaving big concerns as Hurricane Milton could have winds over 125 mph, and 10 to 15-foot storm surges.
“The big concern is with the amount of wind we're getting and the mile per hour,” said Marie Deering. “All that wind is going to be all over the roadway, it's a projectile up into the homes that are still standing, and possibly go into the Shell Cove community, make the roads a mess. Anyone whose car is not in a garage, their car can be destroyed, it’s just terrible.”
Residents do say that the county has come through and cleared out the debris, but more keeps piling up as people continue to clean up from the storms.
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