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Between Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, will Florida fans make it to Neyland Stadium?

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Between Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, will Florida fans make it to Neyland Stadium?

The Tennessee-Florida football matchup is always one of the most-anticipated games of the season. But with Hurricane Milton hurling toward Florida and with East Tennessee still recovering post-Hurricane Helene, will Florida fans even make it to the Neyland Stadium stands?

Milton, an intense Category 4 storm on the cusp of growing to Category 5 on Oct. 8, is expected to make landfall the night of Oct. 9 along the west-central coast of Florida near the Tampa and Sarasota areas as an “extremely dangerous” hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, is slightly northwest of the projected path, but the storm’s aftermath could impact travel to the Oct. 12 game in Knoxville.

Could Hurricane Milton impact Florida fans driving to Knoxville?

Millions of Florida residents were following evacuation orders Oct. 8 and trying to avoid Hurricane Milton, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida reported. Portions of Florida’s main highways, including interstates 75 North, 4 East and 10 West were clogged by slowly moving traffic. State officials have suspended tolls and opened road shoulders to traffic.

A drive from Gainesville to Knoxville normally is about 8 hours and 30 minutes via Interstate 75. A quick search on Google Maps showed an alert the “route may be affected by Hurricane Milton” on Oct. 8 as Milton still churned in the Gulf of Mexico.

Any Florida fans driving to Knoxville also should be mindful of long lines at gas pumps and even empty gas pumps along the journey. Fuel and other supplies already were running low, USA TODAY reported Oct. 8.

Travel into East Tennessee via I-75 should not be affected by any Hurricane Helene-related closures, though.

Catastrophic flooding on Sept. 27 caused by Hurricane Helene washed away roads and bridges, including sections of Interstates 40 and 26 near the Tennessee-North Carolina border, which don’t need to be accessible to drivers coming from Florida.

Real-time traffic status and road closures in Florida can be tracked at FL511.com.

Florida flight cancelations and airport closures could impact travel  

Orlando International (MCO), Orlando Sanford (SFB), Jacksonville International (JAX) and St. Pete-Clearwater International (PIE) are the four airports near Gainesville, Florida, with direct flights to and from Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport via Allegiant.

However, Milton is expected to disrupt the Allegiant flight schedule beginning Oct. 8, the airline announced.

Gainesville Regional Airport and Tampa International are options, too, but they do not have direct flights to McGhee Tyson.

Here’s how Milton was impacting airports as of Oct. 8:

When do the Vols play against the Florida Gators?  

The University of Florida campus will be closed Oct. 9-10, though the Florida Gators could practice on those days under certain guidelines, football coach Billy Napier said Oct. 7.

As of Oct. 8, the team is still scheduled to travel to Knoxville on Oct. 11 after the storm passes.

Tennessee (No. 9) hosts Florida Oct. 12 at Neyland Stadium. The game can be watched at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Tennessee won the most recent meeting against Florida in Knoxville by a score of 38-33 in September 2022.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208. 

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