Tampa Mayor Jane Castor had another dire warning to residents in evacuation zones who planned to ride out Hurricane Milton in their houses.
Milton is forecast to bring storm surges of up 8 to 12 feet to Tampa Bay when it makes landfall.
Even though the flooding for Tampa has been slightly downgraded as the storm path has shifted south, she said that residents are not safe.
“Individuals that are in these, say you’re in a single-story home… 12 feet is above that house,” she said in an address to residents on Tuesday night. “So, if you’re in it, you know, basically that’s the coffin you’re in.”Castor added:
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“I’ve said many times that you want to pick a fight with Mother Nature, she’s winning 100% of the time.”
She previously said on Monday on CNN, “If you choose to stay … you are going to die.”
More than 6.5 million people have been ordered to evacuate the coast ahead of Milton, which has twice grown to become a catastrophic Category 5 story. It’s currently a Cat 4 with 155 mph winds