As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, expected to make landfall some time Wednesday evening, locals across the state are scrambling to make emergency preparations and hundreds of thousands are attempting to leave what are expected to be the hardest-hit areas.
But with one million people in coastal areas under evacuation orders, highways to higher ground clogged and gas stations running out of fuel, many Floridians are choosing to stay — hoping they can ride out the storm.
It’s a huge gamble. On Tuesday, Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor issued a blunt warning for those in her city: “If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” she told CNN, and later noted that the up to 4.5 metres of storm surge expected in her city would be deep enough to swallow an entire house.
“So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in,” she said.
The Tampa Bay area, home to more than 3.3 million people, faces the possibility of widespread destruction after avoiding direct hits from major hurricanes for more than a century. The National Hurricane Center predicted Milton, a monstrous Category 5 hurricane during much of its approach, would likely weaken but remain a major hurricane when it makes landfall.
By mid-Wednesday, it was alerting Floridians that it’s “time to shelter-in-place.”
Authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders across 11 Florida counties and have warned that anyone choosing to stay must fend for themselves, as first responders will not be risking their lives to attempt rescues at the height of the storm.
As the hurricane grows closer, Floridians directly in its path have been posting video to TikTok, explaining their reasons for staying.
One woman shared that while she is expecting the hurricane to hit the area where she lives, she argues that she is not in a mandatory evacuation area and does not live in a mobile home. She also said she’s concerned about taking her six-month-old baby to an evacuation centre: “I would be more comfortable in my own home,” she said in a video posted Tuesday.
She also explained that “not everyone can get out,” saying that they visited 10 gas stations, only to find they were all out of fuel, and that traffic leading to higher ground has resulted in gridlock on many roads.
Another woman, who owns a hobby farm “in the direct path” of Milton, but inland, between Tampa and Orlando, became emotional in a Tuesday update, saying that she was unwilling to leave the farm’s many animals.
She said there’s nowhere to evacuate her animals, as they don’t all have the health certificates needed to transport them out of state. She’ll bring as many animals as possible into the house, she said, but the safest area for her grazing animals will be outside; leaving them in a barn is dangerous, she explained, as the structure could collapse.
Still, she worried that flying debris and falling trees could still impact some of the larger livestock.
Meanwhile, Sarasota Realtor Leland Howard said he would be staying put as he lives in a home he considers safe enough to weather the storm.
He did, however, encourage those unable to evacuate due to “their physical health or money” to seek refuge at local makeshift centres that have been set up around the state, usually in schools or other large community buildings.
He argued that resources like fuel, food, space on the highway and hotel rooms in the northern part of Florida should be saved for people under mandatory evacuation.
There are others, like Florida-based influencer Caroline Calloway, who are living in mandatory evacuation areas and still choosing to stay put.
“Listen, I didn’t evacuate. I can’t drive, first of all. Second of all, the airport is closed,” she said on her Instagram story Tuesday, further explaining that the last time she evacuated she went to her mom’s house, where they were still without power or food or running water and “it was the worst time ever.”
“I’m going to die,” she said, noting that her home in Sarasota is considered “Zone A, mandatory evacuation.”
She later posted a photo overlooking the water, with the caption: “A little concerned I live right on the beach not gonna lie.”
Another Florida man, who said he lives approximately 14 kilometres from the water, shared a video of his hurricane prep, which involved the elaborate wrapping of his brand-new Corvette sports car in a roll of plastic sheeting.
A state of emergency for 51 Florida counties is in place and 149 shelters have been set up across the state to accommodate almost 200,000 people, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday.
“You still have time to evacuate if you are in an evacuation zone.”
DeSantis said it would be “hazardous” to stay, especially for those who are in the evacuation zones, including the barrier islands, Sarasota County and other parts of coastal Charlotte County.
With the clock ticking, he said the best option would be to evacuate within your own county to one of the shelters.
— With files from The Associated Press