NORTH CAROLINA, USA — With Hurricane Milton intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico and barreling toward the Florida coast, some airports are grounding planes before the storm makes landfall.
Tampa International Airport is suspending all commercial and cargo flights starting Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport will close after its last flight Tuesday. It's expected to remain closed through at least Thursday. Southwest Florida International Airport posted that no commercial flights will be operating on Wednesday, Oct. 9 and Thursday, Oct. 10.
Passengers are encouraged to contact airlines directly for assistance rescheduling flights in and out of central Florida.
"We have made a pre-landfall declaration request to FEMA for support," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, after declaring a state of emergency for more than 30 Florida counties.
Mandatory evacuation orders are now in effect for parts of Hillsborough County, which is home to Tampa. Anna Maria Island shut down Monday at noon.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in North Carolina, Indiana Task Force 1 is still assisting in the search and cleanup from Hurricane Helene.
On Sept. 24, the team was activated to Florida. Days later, however, Indiana Task Force 1 was rerouted to North Carolina.
As of early Monday afternoon, Task Force Coordinator Thomas Neal shared the following information:
"At this time, we don't have anything further from the state of North Carolina or FEMA. For now, we are assigned to N.C. and intend to finish out all assignments until they can release resources assigned to the search and rescue operations."
The team shared several photos on social media Monday, adding, "Task Force 1 continues targeted and wide area searches in western North Carolina. We thank everyone for their continued support as we support the people of this community."