Stubborn Floridians refusing to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton should write their name on their leg so authorities can identify their body, a police chief has warned.
William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, issued a stark warning to residents today, telling them ‘if you don’t leave, you’re on your own.’
‘Take a pen and write your name and social security number on your leg so that we have a contact if we find you,’ he told CNN. ‘Because this is not going to end well.’ Millions of people across Florida are locked in a desperate race against time to evacuate before the ‘storm of the century’ smashes into Tampa late tonight, with officials warning that those choosing to stay and ride out Hurricane Milton would be left to fend for themselves.
Tokajer’s remark doubles down on pleas from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who has urged locals to evacuate before the 15 feet (4.5 metres) of storm surge forecast to hit her city submerges entire properties. She has repeatedly warned those who are refusing to leave that they could die in their homes.
‘So if you’re in it, basically that’s the coffin that you’re in,’ she said flatly.
The state is holding its breath as Milton barrels across the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the shoreline, with forecasters warning of the prospect of brutal floods and 165 miles-per-hour winds.
Its intensity was downgraded from a Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4 this afternoon, but the storm has dramatically increased in size and is expected to lay waste to huge swathes of land. It is thought the Hurricane could double in size by the time it hits.
Emergency workers are busy making last-ditch preparations, locking down communities, readying rescue trucks and placing flood barricades around vital infrastructure, including Tampa General Hospital, which is expected to bear the brunt of Milton’s wrath when it hits around midnight UK time (7pm EST).
The National Guard has also been drafted in to help any residents in difficulty carry out desperate eleventh-hour evacuations amid light flooding as the outer edges of the hurricane caused weather conditions to deteriorate this morning.
Unsettling clips taken early this morning also showed a huge lightning storm erupting off the coast of Key West.





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