Ominous videos circulating on social media show officials riding around Florida neighborhoods warning that “the time to leave is now” as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns that the opportunity to do so is “quickly coming to a close,” as Hurricane Milton approaches.
One video on social media shows a vehicle driving around a neighborhood sharing an automated message via the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office, warning of “significant storm surge” and winds.
“The time to leave is now,” it says, asserting there are mandatory evacuations and adding, “please leave now.”
Another video shows another vehicle sharing a similar warning in Pasco County, asserting that residents “must leave this area now.”
“You’re running out of time to get to safety,” it continues, warning of damaging storm surge and winds.
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall as a strong Category 4 storm, somewhere in the Tampa area. However, impacts are going to occur across the state, as Milton will still maintain hurricane status when it exits off the east coast.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is urging residents to take the evacuation order seriously.
“I’ve said many times that you want to pick a fight with Mother Nature, she’s winning 100 percent of the time,” she said on Tuesday.
“And individuals that are in these, say you’re in a single-story home. Twelve feet is above that house,” she said, referencing the potentially catastrophic storm surge.
“So, if you’re in it, you know, basically that’s the coffin you’re in,” she added.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday morning that residents still have time to evacuate, explaining that they do not need to go hundreds of miles to do so.
“I mean, the this track can bounce around. It’s not guaranteed it’s going to hit there. A lot of the solutions have it going there. You have time to do that now. Conditions aren’t going to be great today, I would say that the roads and the interstates, they are flowing,” he said.
“We’ve waived tolls. We’ve done all that so people can do, but the best option would probably be just to evacuate within your own county to one of the shelters,” he continued.
“All those counties have multiple shelters that are open. There’s a lot of space in those shelters right now, and certainly would be safe to do a very short evacuation tens of miles, rather than get on the interstate and go the roads are still open,” the governor — who is no stranger to hurricane response — added.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is warning of “destructive storm surge” of 10 feet or more in the west-central coast of Florida, describing it as an “extremely life-threatening” situation.
“The time to evacuate, if told to do so by local officials, is quickly coming to a close,” it warns.
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