Nearly every hotel room in Tallahassee appears to be booked as Floridians attempt to flee the projected path of Hurricane Milton later this week.
Milton strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane by midday Monday, with winds up to 175 mph, and is expected to make landfall along the central western Gulf coast of Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.
That forecast is driving Milton evacuees north to the capital and beyond. According to Booking.com, 98% of hotels in Tallahassee were booked for reservation dates spanning today through Wednesday.
When contacted, several hotel operators said they are full and others are at capacity, prompting them to hunt for other accommodations for guests in search of a landing spot.
“We’ve been monitoring this all morning,” said Kerri Post, the head of Leon County’s Division of Tourism and Visit Tallahassee. “Most hotels are sold out. Many of our hotels are still full or have significant or 50% occupancy or more remaining (due to) Helene workers here with Red Cross, insurance, etc.”