No, FEMA didn’t close roads and bridges to create traffic jams during Hurricane Milton evacuations

As residents of Florida’s low-lying Tampa Bay region sought to escape the brunt of Hurricane Milton in advance of its projected landfall, a video on TikTok claimed the federal government had intentionally trapped drivers on highways.

"My brother sent me this," read a typo-filled caption over the Oct. 7 video that showed a massive traffic jam along a roadway. "Mandatory Evacuation but now FEMA is closing Roads and In some areas causing 30 miles atleast of gridlock traffic."

But the traffic jams were caused by mass evacuations, not road closures. And FEMA doesn’t control Florida’s emergency road and bridge closures; state agencies such as the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Division of Emergency Management do, in coordination with other state and local officials.

TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)

Hurricane Milton intensified to a Category 5 storm Oct. 7 before being downgraded to a Category 4. It was expected to make landfall late Oct. 9 or early Oct. 10. Officials issued multiple evacuation orders in the region.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned local residents to take evacuations seriously. "I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die," she said in an Oct. 7 CNN interview. 

Large numbers of vehicles evacuating the Tampa Bay region caused traffic jams along major roads, including Howard Frankland Bridge, Interstate 4, Interstate 275 and parts of U.S. Highway 19, according to reports by the Tampa Bay Times and local news station WFLA-TV.

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on September 25, 2024 in a post

Video shows footage of Hurricane Helene

Traffic volume heading north from Florida to Georgia was up 342% from usual levels on Interstate 75 and up 264% on Interstate 95 the evening of Oct. 7, the Georgia Department of Transportation said in a press release the next day.

"FEMA is not blockading people in Florida and preventing evacuations,"  FEMA stated on its website Oct. 8 in response to the social media rumors. "FEMA does not control traffic flow or conduct traffic stops, which are handled by local authorities. This is a harmful rumor that can put lives in danger."

The agency has issued statements on numerous false claims about its response to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

State officials took actions to improve traffic flow and help evacuating vehicles. Starting Oct. 7, Florida suspended tolls, and the Florida Department of Transportation announced vehicles would be allowed to drive on roadway shoulders to help with traffic flow.

The Florida Department of Transportation also announced Oct. 8 that, at noon, it would lock down state drawbridges in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties. This closed bridges to boat traffic but kept them open for land vehicles.

As of Oct. 9, the Florida 511 traffic alert system in the Tampa Bay area showed multiple traffic closures on state and U.S. highways, many blocking access to barrier islands and bridges as the storm rolled in. By the morning of Oct. 9, Google maps showed otherwise largely clear highway traffic flow around the Tampa Bay region, as did Florida 511’s traffic map.

We rate the claim that "FEMA is closing roads and bridges and causing gridlock traffic during evacuations from Hurricane Milton" False.