Orange juice futures rose as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, prompting evacuations and putting orange growers on alert.

Listen to this article 3 min Listen to this article 3 min Futures in New York gained as much as 3% in New York as the hurricane rapidly intensified in strength over the last 24 hours. Citrus groves in key producing counties are in the storm's potential path, again risking trees that are just recovering from the impact of Hurricane Ian in 2022.

Commodity Weather Group said potential wind damage from the storm could threaten two-thirds of northern Florida's citrus production, while meteorologist Jim Roemer of Best Weather Inc. said a path cutting across the state south of Tampa could hurt up to 20% of groves.

Growers are bracing for hurricane-force winds Wednesday through Thursday, said Ray Royce, the executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association in central Florida. The storm could knock growing fruits off of trees, while rains could impact root systems and uproot trees that have already been stressed by a citrus disease, Royce said.

"We've got hundreds of trees per acre. It's not like you have one tree in your backyard you can go tie down," Royce said. "There's nothing you can really do to protect the trees or protect the fruit....