The Tampa Bay region on the west coast of Florida is preparing for a cataclysmic storm, touted as one of the most powerful in recent history.

Hurricane Milton is set to hit from Wednesday and residents have been warned they’re at risk of catastrophic damage, flooded homes – and even death.

Tampa’s Mayor, Jane Castor, speaking on CNN, did not hold back while urging residents to evacuate: “I can say without any dramatisation whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.”

It’s not just Tampa which is at severe risk. St. Petersburg and densely populated areas on the Gulf of Mexico near the mouth of the bay are also likely to be in the immediate path.

In fact, experts suggest the threat from storm surge extends some 240 kilometres to the north – into the state’s Big Bend region – and the same distance to the south – to Naples and into the Florida Keys.

Two years ago, cities in the south saw devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, which washed away homes and made bridges to barrier islands impassable.

Wherever Milton lands, it will have an enormous impact, with flooding alone likely to be catastrophic.

Here’s how Florida is trying to protect residents from Hurricane Milton.

Countless residents flee Tampa Bay region as the hurricane approaches

Many of Florida’s highways have seen wall-to-wall traffic this week, but local authorities warn that time for evacuations was running out on Wednesday.

Jane Castor noted that up to 4.5 metres of predicted storm surge forecast for Tampa would easily be deep enough to swallow an entire house.

“So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in,” she warned.

Ahead of the storm’s arrival, officials have been scrambling to remove piles of debris left in a recent storm, Hurricane Helene’s, wake. There are fears that Milton could effectively turn loose wreckage into flying missiles.

Despite publicly sparring with Vice President Kamala Harris, Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, announced that 300 dump trucks had successfully removed 1,300 loads of debris as of Wednesday.

Insisting that everyone who can should evacuate immediately, DeSantis also made it clear that those who defy such orders are “on their own” and that emergency services will not be expected to risk their own lives to carry out rescues at the height of the storm.

“You do not have to get on the interstate and go far away,” DeSantis said at a news conference, “You can evacuate tens of miles. You do not have to evacuate hundreds of miles away.”

President Joe Biden confirmed he was cancelling a trip to Germany and Angola to help with the aftermath of Milton.

He announced that, for people who can’t leave Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has almost 900 staff members in place in the region to assist.

The White House also confirmed it has 20 million meals and 40 million litres of water ready for those who need it.

While DeSantis made assurances that there would be enough gasoline for evacuees to fuel their cars, he has been criticised by some who have struggled to find any available.

Fuel is getting harder to find, Floridians say

Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, told the AP news agency that, on Tuesday afternoon, about 16.5 per cent of Florida stations had no fuel, up from 3.5 per cent on Monday a day earlier.

GasBuddy also confirmed that at least 43 per cent of gas stations in the area had run dry by Tuesday morning.

Nevertheless, DeSantis maintains that there isn’t a fuel shortage.

“We have been dispatching fuel over the past 24 hours as gas stations have run out,” the governor said at the press conference, “So we currently have 268,000 gallons of diesel, 110,000 gallons of gasoline. Those numbers are less than what they were 24 hours ago because we’ve put a lot in, but we have an additional 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline that is currently en route to the state of Florida.”

De Haan, though, has criticised this response.

“[DeSantis is] technically correct,” he told the AP, “Fuel is flowing, but stations can’t keep caught up… It’s hard to tell somebody that’s at a pump with a bag over it that there’s no shortage.”

Some locals say it’s been taking hours to find a gas station which has any fuel in stock.

That came as Ned Bowman, spokesperson for the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association, told the AP that the situation was typical for a Florida hurricane, in that demand is at a high and some stations are running dry – temporarily, but that suppliers are “constantly” moving fuel to stations.

“Have patience,” Bowman advises, “It’s out there.”

Airlines announce they’re capping fares in Milton’s path, as flights are cancelled

Despite rumours on social media that some airlines have been charging upwards of $1,500 (about €1,400) for flights out of Milton’s path, many companies say they have imposed fare caps on such routes.

While a number of airports, including St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, have already closed their doors and cancelled flights, Joe Biden has warned companies not to overcharge those fleeing the storm’s path.

“I’m calling on the airlines and other companies to provide as much service as possible to accommodate evacuations, and not to engage in price gouging – to just do it on the level,” Biden said at a hurricane briefing.

By Tuesday afternoon, airlines had cancelled more than 700 domestic flights, with more than half of the cancellations at Tampa International Airport.

One customer, Cerina McQuillan, told the AP that she was trying to get her 17-year-old daughter on a flight to New York.

McQuillan said that when she first tried to buy a one-way ticket, prices were around $200 (€182). Then the airline’s site crashed.

“All of a sudden it went back on again, and the flights quadrupled in price. It went up to like $750 (€685) within a matter of seconds,” she told the news agency, “There were prices even as high as $1,000 (€912) for one leg. So wrong! So wrong!”

Others reported fares as high as $2,351 (€2,143) for a one-way economy ticket, but airlines were quick to dispute such high prices.

Delta alone confirmed it had capped fares and American Airlines said it had added an additional 2,000 seats leaving from Orlando on Tuesday night, having already added 2,000 out of Tampa and Sarasota on Monday.

Airlines do tend to raise prices on last-minute tickets, which often blurs the line between “gouging” prices and simply filling up flights to maximise revenue.

However, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to X – formerly Twitter – to address concerns.

“The Department takes all allegations of airline price-gouging seriously. We are keeping a close eye on flights in and out of areas affected by Hurricane Milton to make sure airlines are not charging excessively increasing fares,” he wrote.

Popular attractions set to close ahead of Milton’s arrival

Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld are some of the most visited tourist destinations in all of the United States – and they’ve announced their closure on Wednesday.

That’s despite the fact that Orlando’s iconic parks are located some 135 km away from Tampa.

Universal Orlando and SeaWorld have confirmed they’ll remain shut until Thursday at the earliest, with Disney World set to follow suit.

The announcement comes after Orlando International Airport, the USA’s seventh busiest, said it will cease operations on Wednesday morning.

October is one of the busiest times in Orlando, thanks to many theme parks putting on Halloween-related celebrations, which are now major money spinners for owners.

Disney World rarely shuts its doors and, during past hurricanes, its hotels and resorts have served as safe spaces for coastal Floridians fleeing danger. There are currently no vacancies at any of their accommodations ahead of Milton’s arrival.