Coast Guard announces port openings following Hurricane Milton, warns impacted communities to exercise caution

Joint Information Center: 786-373-6675, D7hurricaneresponse2024@gmail.com  

MIAMI — The Coast Guard reminds mariners and residents of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to remain vigilant following Hurricane Milton, Thursday.  

Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the Gulf coast of Florida and restrengthened in the Atlantic Ocean after crossing the peninsula. The extent of damage to impacted areas is still being assessed by federal, state and local emergency responders.  

Through extensive pre-planning and coordinated efforts by NOAA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Florida Department of Transportation, numerous port partners and Coast Guard crews ahead of the storm, the following commercial ports were assessed and safely reopened today:   

• In Florida:  Key West, Port Everglades, Port Miami and the Miami River 

• In Georgia: Brunswick, Savannah  

• In South Carolina: Charleston, Georgetown  

Partnership efforts continue in support the State of Florida and our mutual priorities regarding the assessment and reconstitution of operations in the seaports which are critical to post-hurricane Milton recovery.  

The Captain of the Port for Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg reopened Port Tampa and Seaport Manatee with the following restrictions (contingent upon facility operational capabilities): 

• Vessel movements requiring federal pilotage are prohibited, including U.S. vessels over 1,600 gross tons and U.S. petroleum barges over 10,000 gross tons;  

• Vessel movements are restricted to daylight hours only with minimum visibility of 3 nm; No restrictions for intra-port vessel movements (e.g. berth shifts).  

The following ports remain closed pending ongoing evaluations and surveys:  

• In Florida:  St. Petersburg, Fort Myers, Port of Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Port Canaveral, Jacksonville, and Fernandina.  

Updated port condition changes by the Captain of the Port will be available on the Homeport website and announced on official unit social media pages throughout the Seventh Coast Guard District. Check below for links to your local Coast Guard Sector page:  

• U.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston  

• U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville  

• U.S. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg  

• U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Savannah  

• U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami  

• U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West  

• U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan  

The Coast Guard offers the following safety tips to those in affected areas:   

• Listen to the warnings and guidance from local, county, state and federal emergency management officials before returning to evacuation areas.  

• Stay off the water and out of the way of rescue crews unless you are playing a critical role in the response. This is not a time for disaster sightseeing. The Coast Guard and other responders are actively engaged in restoring our waterways and maritime infrastructure. You can help by steering clear.  

• Buoys, day boards, and other aids to navigation may be off station if shifted by the hurricane. Water depths may be shallower than charted due to shifting sands and shoals. If you encounter an off-station buoy or navigational marker, report it to the Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16.  

• Do not operate unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) around working crews or in areas with low-flying aircraft (helicopters).  

• Turn around, don’t drown. Do not intentionally drive your vehicle into flooded or washed-out areas. You may underestimate the depth and become stuck or damage your vehicle. The flood waters resulting from heavy rainfall and high storm surge may not have fully receded.  

• Beware of construction materials like wood, nails, glass, and concrete that may be encountered in areas where flood waters receded, on beaches and in canals. Report hazards to local emergency management, lifeguards or beach patrol.  

• Beware of rip currents. Hurricanes and tropical storms can cause rip currents and increase dangers along the beach, even for storms that are far away. Follow local lifeguard advisories and check local marine forecasts.  

• Reporting a hazardous substance release or oil spill takes only a few minutes. If you encounter chemicals or oil pollutants in the waterways, contact the federal government's centralized reporting center, the National Response Center (NRC), at 1-800-424-8802.  

• If reporting directly to the NRC is not possible, reports also can be made to the EPA Regional office or the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in the area where the incident occurred. In general, EPA should be contacted if the incident involves a release to inland areas or inland waters. The Coast Guard should be contacted for releases to coastal waters, ports and harbors. The EPA or the Coast Guard will relay release and spill reports to the NRC promptly.