Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned that residents ignoring calls to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton "are going to die" during an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins Monday (October 7) night.
“I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die,” Castor said while describing the consequences of the "literally catastrophic" Category 5 hurricane on a path to hit Florida's western coast.
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall as early as Wednesday (October 9) as several parts of Florida face ongoing recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene's devastation less than two weeks prior. Milton is reportedly expected to hit parts of west-central Florida at a "unique angle of approach" which could be the worst storm system to hit Florida in "over 100 years," according to FOX Weather.
A track shows the hurricane over or just north of the Tampa-Sarasota metro area, which would bring significantly more water piled up than previous hurricanes in the region.
"The West Coast of Florida is spectacularly vulnerable to storm surge, as we have seen. Even a tropical storm can push Gulf water to dangerous heights, let alone a strong hurricane. It's critical that everybody in Central and South Florida stay well-informed since things are developing quickly," said FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross.
Milton is reported to have reached sustained winds of 160 MPH as it made its way across the Gulf of Mexico along its continued path toward Florida's western coast. The storm had previously intensified into a "life-threatening" Category 4 hurricane on Monday.
Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota are all expected to announce evacuation orders on Monday and Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida's emergency management division, said the state was preparing for its largest evacuation since 6 million Floridians were forced to flee ahead of Hurricane Irma in 2017. Rainfall is expected to be between 5-10 inches in some areas of the state, while others can see up to 15 inches. A deadly storm surge of 8-12 feet is also possible for more than 200 miles of coastline, with Tampa potentially being the median.
"The track guidance is in good agreement that the hurricane will cross the Florida Peninsula, but there remains significant differences in both the location and timing of landfall," National Hurricane Center specialist Jack Beven wrote via USA TODAY.