Tampa Bay Buccaneers to evacuate to New Orleans as Hurricane Milton nears

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will relocate operations to New Orleans as Hurricane Milton intensifies and bears down on Florida's west coast, the team announced Monday.

Players, coaches and other Buccaneers staff members will leave Tampa on Tuesday. The Buccaneers will play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in New Orleans.

Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 5 storm Monday and remains on course to make landfall Wednesday in Florida.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, ordered mandatory evacuations Monday for several areas. An NHL game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators -- which was initially postponed because of Hurricane Helene and rescheduled for Monday in Tampa -- also was canceled with Hurricane Milton coming.

The University of South Florida, which canceled in-person classes through Wednesday, is scheduled to play a football game against Memphis on Friday at Raymond James Stadium, the Buccaneers' home facility.

The University of South Florida and American Athletic Conference did not have an update about the game on Monday, but plans to monitor the situation.