The world nervously waits for the impact that Hurricane Milton is expected to have on Florida later today (Wednesday) and into Thursday.

On Tuesday, the weather anomaly was listed as a Category 5 storm, but by early Wednesday had been listed as a Category 4 storm; however, as CNN.com noted on its site earlier today:

“A weaker Milton won’t mean less devastation, particularly with a larger storm. Over the past 24 hours, the tropical-storm force winds expanded from 80 miles to 140 miles from its center. This means its disastrous impacts will be felt over a much larger area. Tropical-storm force winds are expected to cover the entire width of the Florida peninsula.”

The news site explained that:

“The storm’s outer bands have already arrived, and tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain will come in force by the afternoon. Florida officials said it was the “11th hour” to evacuate and urged residents to “get out” while there was still time Wednesday morning.”

And at 8:45 am EST, a tornado watch was issued for central and southern Florida until 9 pm EDT this evening which includes major population areas such as Tampa, Sarasota, Key West and Miami.

As one CNN.com report noted: “Milton will continue to lose some strength today but will remain a formidable major hurricane at landfall in Florida overnight tonight.”

Major tourist destinations such as Disney World have closed and airports are also feeling the impact as airports such as the ones in Orlando and Daytona Beach are “ceasing operations” indefinitely.

A major concern also is that that parts of the state could see storm surges as high as 10 to 15 feet which could not only damage homes, structures and facilities but also could be life-threatening.

In the softball world, it remains to be seen how the storm/hurricane will impact events such as the PGF Single-Double Weekend scheduled for this weekend (Oct. 12-13) in Newberry, Fla.

And the potential devastation of the storm, including damage to sports facilities and venues, could have long-term effects, even for ones in a month such as the popular Clearwater Fall Classic to take place Nov. 15-17, 2024, and feature many of the elite club teams across the nation.

The fall showcase is held at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater about 15 minutes from the Tampa airport.

The event’s site published the following this week:

“It looks like (Hurricane) Helene did minimal damage to our fields. A couple of fences were bent and now are repaired and that’s about it. As far as the next hurricane, we don’t know, but we will keep you informed as soon as we know more information. Keep checking here for updates.”

Line Drive is scheduled to attend the Clearwater Fall Classic and will feature updates as they come in as to how the hurricane affected the area.

First and foremost, however, is the concern for everyone, including — in our space —  the safety of the players, coaches and their families who are in the path of the storm.

We pray that all will be safe and the storm damage will be minimal.

Readers and followers of Line Drive who are in Florida… please keep us updated on how you’re doing and that you’re safe. 

We would love to get confirmation and hear from those who are being impacted; please email as the situation allows at: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveMedia.com.

— Brentt Eads/Line Drive Softball