Hurricane Milton Hits Tampa – Havana, Cuba

I mentioned Milton yesterday, a giant Category 5 Hurricane spinning out in the Gulf that luckily just glanced Havana. Unfortunately for Tampa, Milton took direct aim. Mercifully, the storm had weakened to a Category 3 by landfall.

The hurricane was anticipated for a few days, and we heard rumors of it as it approached. As you may remember, Tampa was my embarkation point from the U.S. to Havana, and it was the city we were returning to. I covered Tampa at the beginning of this long trip series. As luck would have it, Milton was anticipated to make landfall in Tampa on the day we were scheduled to go back home. The flight was canceled, and the airport was closed the day before and for a couple of days after.

Some in our group who absolutely had to get home were able to reschedule flights through other cities. The remaining, including myself, were stranded in Havana for a few extra days. I was able to pull up this radar image via the very poor, sporadic WiFi at the Casa. Note the location of the blue dot. Yes, I really created this screenshot in Cuba. At least it made for a good story, and I had more days to shoot pictures—always a plus in my book.

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