Just weeks after Hurricane Helene hammered the Florida Gulf Coast, another historic storm is barreling toward the Tampa area.
What started as a tropical storm has quickly developed into a Category Five hurricane that threatens to cause even further damage to a region that is still reeling from what happened with Helene. It's a tragic and terrifying series of events unfolding, and everyone is taking proper precautions before the storm arrives.
For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that means getting out of Tampa before Milton hits. Thankfully, the Bucs are on the road this week and are taking steps to fly out to New Orleans a few days before they normally would for an away game.
Buccaneers relocating to New Orleans early to avoid Hurricane Milton
On Monday the Bucs announced that the team would be flying out to New Orleans and moving their normal base of operations due to Hurricane Milton.
"The team will relocate operations to the New Orleans area for the remainder of the week leading up to Sunday's game at the Saints," the Buccaneers said in a statement.
It's more than just about not disrupting the routine of the week, which feels incredibly unimportant in the larger context of what's going on. The Bucs were able to secure hotel rooms in New Orleans where players and coaches, and their families, would be able to seek refuge while Milton makes landfall.
"With Hurricane Milton approaching, the Buccaneers are evacuating Tampa and heading to New Orleans on Tuesday, ahead of their game there Sunday," NFL insider Adam Schefter reported. " was able to secure the necessary hotel rooms in New Orleans to avoid another flight Saturday."
Normally the Bucs would practice all week in Tampa and then fly out on Saturday. Milton is expected to make landfall as early as early Wednesday morning and will wreak havoc over the following 24 hours.
It's an unprecedented storm, one that is expected to be so bad that it has even the most experienced meteorlogists rattled.
NBC6's @JohnMoralesTV is the longest tenured TV meteorologist in south Florida. When he gets this serious, this emotional, on the air, viewers pay attention: pic.twitter.com/iiECZ8KaHx
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 7, 2024
Winds are projected to be near 180 mph, although the storm is expected to slightly weaken as it nears Florida. The hope is that it makes landfall at less than Category Five conditions, but it's still going to be a brutal storm.
Football will be the furthest thing from anyone's mind this week as Buccaneers fans get hit with a second hurricane in three weeks. The team wasted no time in donating to relief efforts after Helene roared through the area, and the same is likely to happen again after yet another devastating storm hits.
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