Tuesday, October 9, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 6
Tampa mayor’s warning to residents who don’t evacuate for Milton: ‘You are going to die’
Officials in Florida have issued evacuation orders and dire warnings as Hurricane Milton, a Category 4 storm as of Tuesday morning, approaches making landfall in the state less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated Florida and parts of Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee.
In a late Tuesday morning update from the National Hurricane Center, meteorologists expanded the storm surge warning along Florida’s Gulf Coast and gave residents one final alert to leave the area, saying “Today is the last full day for Florida residents to get their families and homes ready and evacuate if told to do so by local officials.”
“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” John Cangialosi, a specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said Tuesday.
According to the NHC, Milton is expected to turn toward the east-northeast and northeast Tuesday and Wednesday before making landfall in Florida Wednesday night. Potentially deadly storm surges of up to 15 feet are also possible for Tampa and other coastal communities, significantly higher than the already hugely destructive 4-8 foot surges experienced during Helene.
Tampa mayor: Residents ‘will die’ if they don’t evacuate
Of Florida’s 67 counties, 51 counties are under a state of emergency, according to the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union, part of the USA TODAY network. Zones A, B, C and are subject to mandatory evacuations across several counties.
On Monday evening, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN in an interview that listening to mandatory orders is crucial for survival.
“I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” Castor said.
“I’ve never said that (before). A 10 to 12-foot surge….this is something that I have never seen in my life and I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before,” she said. “People need to get out.”
Florida governor: ‘Time is going to start running out very, very soon’
Gov. Ron DeSantis told Florida residents in a press briefing Tuesday that “time is running out” to evacuate from areas on Milton’s path.
“There’s no guarantee what the weather’s going to be like starting Wednesday morning,” DeSantis said. “You may have a window where it may be safe, but you may not. So use today as your day to finalize and execute the plan that is going to protect you and your family.”
DeSantis signed an executive order eliminating tolls on western Florida roads.
