In happier times, Interstate 4 from Tampa to Orlando is crowded with pleasure-seekers heading to Disney theme parks and similar fun activities in Florida. But on Tuesday, a deep sense of foreboding hung over the long lines of near-standstill traffic as Hurricane Milton, the strongest storm to hit Tampa Bay in more than a century, raged in the Gulf of Mexico and inched ever closer to its target.

Hundreds of thousands of Floridians heeded urgent warnings from authorities to flee while they still had the chance, becoming stuck in traffic on their way inland to safety. Some even flew into the air, injuring three people when their small plane crashed into Tampa Bay as they attempted to escape Tuesday morning.

“We likely will not have enough time to wait for departure on Wednesday,” the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned in a morning warning.

Families who had left their homes in evacuation zones in low-lying coastal areas such as Clearwater and St. Petersburg – where the storm surge could reach up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) in Milton – were unsure where they would return .

But risking staying there, as so many did at their expense during Hurricane Helene, which raged through Florida's Panhandle and into the Carolinas and beyond just 11 days ago, was not an option.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor recalled Helene's death toll, which is at least 227, and urged people as directly as possible to leave the country. “I can say this without any dramatization: If you choose to stay in one of these evacuation areas, you will die,” she said in an appearance on CNN.

Your words resonate. Florida's west coast has seen this before, most recently in 2022 when Hurricane Ian struck south of Tampa Bay, claiming 149 lives. Most drowned in an 18-foot storm surge, essentially a rushing wall of seawater pushed inland by a hurricane's winds – and there were questions about why authorities didn't issue an evacuation order until the day before Postponed landing.

For many, the call came too late, and people who were hesitant or lacked the means to join the long lines of traffic opted to shelter in place.

On Tuesday, hurricane refugees filled Orlando hotel rooms normally occupied by tourists and convention-goers or headed north or south, away from the danger zone, to areas of Georgia not affected by Helene or to the Miami metropolitan area in southeast Florida.

“For every room that we had to cancel because there was a meeting going on or because we couldn't get to the area, we're filling that room with someone impacted by this storm,” said Jennifer Rice-Palmer, director of guest relations at Orlandos Rosen Center Hotel, said the Orlando Sentinel.

The newspaper spoke with Nick Santos, a Tampa evacuee who took advantage of the hotel's discounted “emergency rates” with his wife, Tara, and their children, Scarlett, six, and Cole, three.

“It's part of life where we live, but it could be a big, scary thing for them,” Santos said, explaining why he left early with his children and took them to an amusement park. Disney said in a statement that it is “closely monitoring the path of the forecast storm” but announced the closure of a number of its residential resorts starting Wednesday.

Emergency shelters were also accepting evacuees, with spaces still available in several Gulf Coast counties on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, back in Tampa, rental companies were running out of vehicles, gas stations were out of fuel, and many supermarkets were sold out of essentials like water, paper towels and cleaning supplies during the storm.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised tolls on major highways and ordered emergency lanes to be opened to ease traffic. However, officials said traffic volumes were above 150% of normal and some routes were blocked by accidents.

“Unfortunately, with every storm, traffic fatalities occur because people wait until the last minute to leave,” Florida Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

A small plane with four people and a dog on board crashed into Tampa Bay shortly after takeoff from Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg on Tuesday morning. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the occupants were rescued by nearby boaters and three were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The plane reportedly sank.

Analysts worry that the Tampa Bay region, home to more than three million people – many of whom have never experienced a hurricane as strong as Milton – is particularly at risk.

“It’s a huge population. “It's very exposed, very inexperienced and this is a lost cause,” Kerry Emanuel, a meteorology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the Associated Press, calling the storm the “black swan” worst-case scenario that experts have been predicting since fear for years.

“I always thought Tampa was the city people would worry about the most.”

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of Americans have moved to the region, with 51,622 new residents from 2022 to 2023, making it the fifth fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country, according to the US Census Bureau.

AccuWeather meteorologists reiterated the “get out early” message, warning that Milton could have a “worst-case scenario” impact on the Tampa Bay region even before expected landfall Wednesday evening.

“You don’t want to wait until a storm surge occurs before taking action. “We experienced so many preventable tragedies during Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Ian,” said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter.

“Please leave the areas at risk of this devastating storm surge while you still can. We are very concerned that Hurricane Milton could become one of the most devastating and costly storms Florida has ever experienced.”