Evacuations

Hurricane Milton is triggering evacuations in counties along Florida's west coast. Here is a list of orders and shelter information.

People with disabilities, people who can't afford it and people who don't want to abandon their pets are among the many who can't easily get up and leave before a hurricane.

Florida residents are already evacuating and filling sandbags days ahead of anticipated flooding from Tropical Storm Helene. Helene formed Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea, is expected to cross the Gulf of Mexico and could strengthen into a major hurricane.

Officials in Pinellas have been working on renourishing and recovering its shoreline after Hurricane Idalia's wrath last year, but it's expected to take another beating by Helene.

Counties in Florida have started calling evacuation orders and opening shelters as Nicole approaches.

Most deaths were in Lee County, where local officials delayed hurricane evacuations until the day before the storm hit. Leaders in other nearby counties ordered evacuations a day earlier.

Heightened evacuation protocols took effect Tuesday with residents living in Level A and B areas required to evacuate. Those living in Level C zones are under voluntary evacuation orders.

With Hurricane Ian approaching, evacuations were ordered along the coast from Pasco County south to Fort Myers.

Some emergency managers are finding the distinction between voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders to be confusing to the public.

Four in 10 Floridians surveyed by the AAA auto club said gas prices might keep them from leaving. The news came as forecasters suggested a potential storm in the Gulf could track toward Florida.

As tensions mount following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Project Dynamo is on the ground in Ukraine for American rescue operations.

The National Hurricane Center says the storm's eyewall is ashore in North Carolina, where more than 20 inches of rain has fallen and storm surge has reached 10 feet in some places.