As Hurricane Milton nears, Tampa mayor says those who stay ‘are going to die’

The mayor of Tampa Bay, Florida has a blunt message for Floridians in the path of Hurricane Milton – this storm could kill you.

“If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die,” Tampa Bay mayor Jane Castor said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

Hurricane Milton regained Category 5 status late Tuesday afternoon, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reporting sustained winds of 270 kilometres per hour — making Milton the strongest storm of 2024 and the largest on record for the Gulf of Mexico.

The NHC said Milton was still expected to make landfall along Florida’s west-central coast Wednesday night — putting Tampa Bay directly in the path of a hurricane for the first time since 1921.

Castor’s stark warning comes as Canada is warning citizens to avoid unnecessary travel in the regions set to be slammed by the ferocious storm.

Half a million Canadians own property in Florida, raising fears about what the impacts to residences could be and how to handle any damage from the storm.

Canada’s advisory for the west coast of the Florida peninsula spanned from Chokoloskee to the mouth of the Suwanee River, including Tampa Bay, Lake Okeechobee and the Dry Tortugas. The warning for the east coast was for the St. Lucie/Indian River County Line northward to the mouth of the St. Marys River.

“Hurricane Milton is expected to sweep across various locations on Florida’s west and east coasts between October 8 and 9, 2024,” Canada’s advisory read.

It added that the storm is likely to bring excessive rainfall and violent winds, which could cause flash flooding and landslides, disrupting essential services like transportation, power, water and food supply, communications, emergency services and medical care.

Cana