The St. Petersburg Police Department will ensure businesses in Evacuation Zones A, B and C shutter by 5 a.m. Tuesday morning. Officials said Monday evening that officers would offer first-time violators a warning before a $500 fine. They could arrest business owners after a third visit. The preemptive measure ahead of Hurricane Milton is to protect lives and reduce impacts on water systems.
The City of St. Petersburg has activated a program to pay individual hauling businesses $200 per load to pick up debris, with a limit of 100 trucks transporting to the Raytheon site in West St. Pete. Interested businesses should email business@stpete.org for more information.
Hurricane Milton has intensified faster than all but two storms in recorded history and now boasts winds topping 160 mph. The National Weather Service expects the storm’s strength to fluctuate as it moves towards Tampa Bay. Meteorologists expect the area to experience sustained major hurricane-force winds and a “life-threatening” storm surge Wednesday night.
St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport will shutter at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and remain closed through Thursday due to Hurricane Milton’s impacts. Tampa International Airport will cease operations at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Officials have not announced a potential reopening date.
As of 9 a.m., Hurricane Milton, just a tropical depression Saturday morning, is now a Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds. Meteorologists still expect the storm to weaken to a Category 3 before it makes landfall Wednesday evening near Tampa Bay. Local officials are bracing for the worst hurricane to hit the area since 1921.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) closed all Disaster Recovery Centers statewide ahead of Hurricane Milton. The agency opened a St. Petersburg location Saturday to help storm victims apply for assistance. The centers will reopen once weather conditions improve and officials complete facility inspections.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority has suspended fares for all bus routes, the Jolley Trolley and Looper, and its paratransit service, PSTA access, ahead of Hurricane Milton. Administrative offices are open Monday but will close Tuesday and Wednesday.
St. Petersburg-based Duke Energy Florida has mobilized approximately 10,000 responders in preparation for Hurricane Milton causing over 1 million power outages. The company noted that the storm’s forecasted track encompasses the “most populated areas of our service territory.” Duke officials warn customers to “make immediate preparations for extended power outage durations.”
All Pinellas County schools and offices will be closed from Monday, Oct. 7, through Wednesday, Oct. 9. All sports and school activities scheduled for those dates are canceled. No decision has been made for the end of the week due to the uncertainty of the path of Tropical Storm Milton.
City officials will open full-service and self-service sandbag distribution centers Sunday ahead of what has quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Milton. Meteorologists expect a Category 2 hurricane to hit Florida's Gulf Coast sometime Wednesday. For more sandbag information, visit the website here.
John Catsimatidis, founder of the Red Apple Group, is encouraging the local development community to support the We Are St. Pete hurricane relief fund by matching donations of up to $50,000. Catsimatidis, the developer behind the Residences at 400 Central, and his family initially contributed $10,000. “St. Petersburg has been incredibly good to us, and now is the time for all of us to give back,” Catsimatidis said.
The PNC Foundation, the nonprofit arm of PNC Bank, has announced a $1 million commitment to disaster relief and recovery efforts in areas of Florida and North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene. $500,000 will go to the American Red Cross for immediate relief services, $400,000 will go to local nonprofits to address long-term recovery needs as they are identified and the remaining $100,000 is earmarked for matching employee donations.
