Video from Tuesday’s flight showed NOAA researchers along with the agency’s Commissioned Officers Corps holding the plane’s interior as 155 mph (249 km/h) gale force winds shook the plane. Outside, only the plane’s wing was visible against the dark gray clouds of the storm.

The crew of the Miss Piggy flew into the massive storm to collect data to improve forecasts and increase their understanding of the storm.

Those trying to leave the area faced heavy traffic jams and other travel problems. In areas like Pinellas County, which includes the cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg and has nearly a million residents, up to 60 percent of residents have been asked to leave.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which killed over 200 people in six states, authorities are taking a more proactive approach to storm preparation and evacuation. Milton is scheduled to compete in Tampa on Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene “spared” the Tampa Bay region a direct hit, and yet the storm surge caused catastrophic damage, flooding homes, drowning people who chose to stay near the shore, and leaving behind huge piles of debris that still litter the roadsides.

What can residents expect now that Hurricane Milton, a more powerful storm, is heading directly toward the same region?

“Worse. Much worse,” said former Federal Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate, a Florida resident who previously led the state’s emergency management division.