Tampa mayor fears Milton could be worst storm to hit city in over a century – Florida Phoenix

As Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 5 storm Monday morning, public officials in Hillsborough County had a simple, straightforward message for residents in areas under evacuation orders: If they don’t don’t go there, they could die.

Milton experienced maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour as it moved east over the Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported just before noon Eastern Time. The storm is expected to make landfall either late Wednesday or early Thursday with “an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula,” according to the National Weather Service.

“We ordered evacuations for Zones A and B for a very good reason,” Hillsborough County Fire Chief Jason Dougherty said at a news briefing in Tampa. “If you stay there, you might die.” My men and women could die trying to save you. They are heroes, but don’t put them in this situation. Help them by leaving Areas A and B today.

“It’s going to be a peak event. This will be a rainy event. This will be a wind event and, if it stays on the predicted path, we will find ourselves in a century-plus storm here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said. “It’s the real deal here with Milton.”

While Helene was still in the collective consciousness of so many affected by that Category 4 hurricane, Castor recalled how Tampa’s first responders were inundated with calls that night after the storm surge began to threaten the safety of those who had not evacuated when asked to do so.

“We started getting calls, hundreds of calls, from people saying, ‘I made a mistake. I need you to come get me. We can’t do that (here). Especially if we go from a 6-7 foot storm surge to a 10-12 foot storm surge. You’re not going to survive this.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister explained the potential difference between how Helen hit the county and what Milton should do.

“The common goal is to keep you and your families alive. Help us do it,” he said. “The big difference between this storm and Hurricane Helen is that between first responders and law enforcement, sustained winds never exceeded 40 (mph). We have never had to suspend service. We are confident that whatever path this storm takes, that will not be the case this time. There will be a time when we will have to suspend the service.

The federal government “fully engaged”