Tampa Bay Hasn’t Been Hit Directly By A Major Hurricane Since 1921. Milton May Be The One.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Milton weakened slightly Tuesday but remained a ferocious storm that could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on the populous Tampa Bay region with towering storm surges and turn debris from Helene’s devastation 12 days ago into projectiles.

Almost the entirety of Florida’s west coast was under a hurricane or tropical storm warning as the storm and its 145 mph (230 kph) winds spun just off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, creeping toward the state and sucking energy from the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters. With the storm expected to remain fairly strong as it crosses Florida, parts of the eastern coast were put under hurricane warnings early Tuesday, as well.

Milton’s center could come ashore Wednesday night in the Tampa Bay area, which has a population of more than 3.3 million people. The county that’s home to Tampa ordered evacuations for areas adjacent to the bay and for all mobile and manufactured homes by Tuesday night.

“You do not have to get on the interstate and go far away,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a Tuesday morning news briefing, assuring residents there would be enough gas to fuel their cars for the trip. “You can evacuate tens of miles; you do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles away. You do have options.”

In Riverview, several drivers waiting in a long line for gas Tuesday morning said they have no plans to evacuate.

“I think we’ll just hang, you know – tough it out,” said Martin Oakes, of Apollo Beach. “We got shutters up; the house is all ready. So this is sort of the last piece of the puzzle.”

Ralph Douglas, of Ruskin, said he, too, will stay put, in part because he worries he would run out of gas trying to return after the storm or get blocked by debris.

“Where I’m at right