Red Sox Spring Training home to be used as staging area for Hurricane Milton response

As Florida prepares for potentially catastrophic storm damage when Hurricane Milton makes landfall, a Red Sox facility is being prepped for emergency use.

A spokesperson with the Red Sox says Fort Myer’s JetBlue Park, the Red Sox homefield during Spring Training, is being used as a staging area for emergency response vehicles.

“The facility has been closed to players, coaches and staff to ensure their safety and we will continue our ongoing coordination efforts with Lee County as the days unfold,” the club said.

The National Hurricane Center stressed that it was not certain exactly where Milton’s center would come ashore Wednesday night because the storm’s path might “wobble,” but that the entire Tampa Bay region and points south were at grave risk. Tropical storm-force winds were just off the coast around midday, the center said.

Milton has fluctuated in intensity as it approaches Florida but was a strong Category 4 hurricane at midday Wednesday and was expected to remain a major storm when its center hits land and then plow across the center of the state, forecasters said. Tampa Bay, near the top of a long stretch of coastline that could be in the bull’s-eye, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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