The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Agency (PSTA) will suspend regular service, including paratransit, at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The agency will then focus on providing evacuation services until 7 p.m. or until sustained winds reach 40 mph. Residents can receive route and timing information by calling the county’s information line at 727-540-1900.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) will suspend regular full service, including paratransit, at 2 p.m. today, Tuesday, October 8. Afterward, PSTA will focus solely on evacuation services until 7 p.m. or until sustained tropical storm-force winds of 40 mph are reached.
Comedian Bert Kreischer's Hurricane Helene relief benefit concert, originally scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 12 at Ruth Eckerd Hall, has been rescheduled for Nov. 15. Tickets for the original date will be honored at the rescheduled performance.
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.
