The mayor of Tampa Bay, a city now facing the impending threat of Hurricane Milton, delivered a serious warning to Florida residents who ignore evacuation orders prior to the approaching storm.

“If you choose to stay … you are going to die,” Mayor Jane Castor stated candidly on CNN while discussing the risks associated with Milton, which has been classified as a “literally catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane advancing towards the coast of Florida.

This formidable storm could make landfall in Florida as soon as Wednesday, potentially causing more devastation than Hurricane Helene, which struck parts of the Sunshine State just last week.

Castor stressed that staying put during the storm would not just be risky; it would likely lead to death. She urged those in evacuation zones to leave immediately.

“I can tell you right now they might have done that in others, there’s never been one like this,” Castor declared on CNN. “And Helene was a wakeup call, this is literally catastrophic.”

“And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die.”

Having served as mayor since 2019, Castor highlighted that some forecasts are predicting a tidal surge of 10-12 feet. In contrast, Helene’s tidal surge reached only 6 feet.

“And that was literally devastating to so many in our coastal area,” she remarked about Helene’s destructive journey.

Milton has already been recorded as the second-strongest hurricane to form in the Gulf, and meteorologists anticipate it will intensify as it nears Florida. The storm’s winds are currently an astonishing 180 mph, with significant rainfall expected as well.

“This is something that I’ve never seen in my life and I can tell you anyone born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before,” she emphasized. “People need to get out.”

“If we have this predicted storm surge, this is not survivable,” she reiterated.

By Monday night, a long line of vehicles could be seen on the highways, and supermarket shelves throughout the area were stripped bare due to panic buying.

{Matzav.com}