OHIO — Hurricane Milton, which is now a Category 4, is expected to make landfall on Florida's west coast Wednesday evening, according to Spectrum News 1 meteorologists.
It's projected to weaken down to a Category 3 when it hits land. However, the way that it grew quickly made it one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded.
As Florida prepares for it and evacuations are underway, many flights to the Sunshine State have been canceled across the country, including here in Ohio.
At Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, all the canceled flights listed for Wednesday were for places in Florida, including Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers. The same goes for John Glenn Columbus International Airport, which has numerous canceled flights for Orlando, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Additionally, multiple Florida airports closed Tuesday or will close Wednesday in preparation for the storm, so residents there are being urged to evacuate before storm surges begin. Closed airports include Tampa International Airport, St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, Orlando International Airport (suspending operations starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday), Southwest Florida International Airport (closing Wednesday and Thursday), Sarasota Bradenton International Airport and Palm Beach International Airport.
Jacksonville International Airport, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport were all scheduled to remain open as of Wednesday morning.
Tampa Bay is expected to get the brunt of the storm, with a storm surge of more than 12 feet of water expected. Flash flooding is possible across the state as Milton makes its way through.
Spectrum News 1 meteorologists said impacts of the storm will start Wednesday, with conditions getting gradually worse throughout the day. Track the storm here.
