(WWJ) Michigan residents vacationing in the path of Hurricane Milton are trying to get out of Florida as evacuation orders are posted for much of the west side of the Sunshine State.
WWJ Newsradio 950’s Jackie Paige, who cut her vacation short, called on the live line as she was preparing to fly out of Fort Meyers on Tuesday.
Paige told WWJ’s Pattie Vitale and Jonathan Carlson her cell phone has just been blowing up with emergency alerts.
“When you pull up your phone and you look at the weather forecast in Detroit, sometimes you’ll see an alert that says Severe Thunderstorm Watch or Severe Thunderstorm Warning. Currently, there’s a Hurricane Warning, there’s a Tropical Cyclone Warning, there’s an Areal Flood Warning, there’s a Flood Watch, there’s Mandatory Evacuation orders,” Paige said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Paige was told storm surge of four to eight feet is expected near Naples, where she was vacationing.
The airport in Tampa is closing this morning.
“A lot of traffic yesterday, we noticed it. All the stores are shutting down, all the restaurants are shutting down. You know, they don’t mess around,” Paige said. “I mean, this is a big, big storm, and it gives me the chills to talk about it. This is not something that we’ve ever had to face in Michigan.”