Tampa Mayor Explains Why She Had To Deliver Such A Blunt Message To Residents About Hurricane Milton: “The Point Was To Get Everyone’s Attention. This Isn’t a Drill”
Hurricane Milton is approaching Florida’s west coast, with the Tampa Bay area facing the potential for widespread destruction.
In recent days, officials have been urging residents to evacuate while they still can. Despite these warnings, some residents have chosen to stay behind, prompting officials to emphasize the dire consequences of riding out the storm at home.
As previously reported, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued a very blunt warning to residents, stating, “I can tell you right now they might have done that in others, there’s never been one like this.” She made these remarks during a CNN interview, adding, “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.” On Wednesday morning, while appearing on the Today Show, Castor doubled down on her blunt warning, saying, “Wherever that storm surge comes, if it’s 10 to 15 feet, and people are trying to ride this out in single story structures, there’s no place to go, and once the winds get up to hurricane speed, there’s nobody to come and get you.”
She further explained, “The point of being blunt was to get everyone’s attention,” referring to her comments made on October 7. “This isn’t a drill. This is the biggest storm that we have certainly seen here in the Tampa Bay area in over a century.”
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Castor emphasized that residents in Tampa are not trapped and stated that law enforcement and social engagement teams are going door-to-door to encourage people to evacuate. “People, they don’t have to go to another state — just go up to higher ground. It is the water that we have got to run from. And that is what is going to be most impactful,” she said. “And as was said, 20 miles in one direction or the other will make all the difference. It goes 20 miles south of us, it will take that water out of our bay. So we don’t wish anything on our neighbors. But as Al (Roker) said, any wobble will make a significant difference for the Gulf Coast.”
Although Hurricane Milton has been downgraded to a Category 4 storm, it is still expected to be the biggest storm Tampa has seen “in over a century.”