Featured Image Credit: CNN/Fox Weather
Topics: Florida, US News, Weather, Hurricane Milton
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Florida, US News, Weather, Hurricane Milton
The Tampa mayor has issued a stark warning for residents who are considering bunkering down and riding out the incoming hurricane.
Tampa mayor Jane Castor took to CNN on Monday night (October 7) to urge all of the residents who are in a hurricane evacuation zone to leave immediately.
This comes as Hurricane Milton is heading towards the Florida city. Milton is expected to hit Tampa Bay by Wednesday and travel east across Florida before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean.
Castor specifically addressed the people who have ridden out previous storms and said she has never seen a storm of this caliber before in her lifetime, and taking the same action for Milton could prove to be a fatal error.
Advert
She said: "I can tell you right now, that they may have done that with others but there has never been one like this. Helene was a wake up call, this is literally catastrophic.
"I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die."
The mayor emphasized just how severe the situation was by adding that she had never issued such warnings in the past.
She continued: "A ten to 12 foot surge... if this takes a jog to the south that is going to save us from the storm surge but if it stays on the track that it is projected to be on right now, or if it goes a bit north, would be even worse."
For context, these surges would be twice as large as those triggered by Hurricane Helene that struck less than two weeks ago.
She continued: “Some of the predictions are saying that Pinellas County, to the south of us, the entire county is going to be under water.
"This is something 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. People need to get out."
Scientists have warned that the upcoming Hurricane will prove particularly devastating and damaging.
As of yesterday, the hurricane has progressed to the top category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Category five is stated as seeing winds at speeds of '157 mph or higher (252 km/h or higher)' with 'catastrophic damage' occurring.
Residents all over the state have been urged to evacuate, with Florida preparing for the largest evacuation since Hurricane Irma with the state's National Guard reported as mobilizing 5,000 troops to help get people out and planning on sending another 3,000 out before Wednesday.