Miami (USA), Oct 8 (EFE).- Thousands of residents continue evacuating parts of the west coast of Florida this Tuesday and many of them go to the shelters set up before the arrival of Milton, which is expected to hit the Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area as an “extremely dangerous” hurricane with catastrophic winds, storm surge and flooding.
Faced with mandatory evacuation orders in at least seven counties on the west coast of Florida, thousands of people have already left their homes and are crowding the roads by car to the south and north of the state to flee Milton, now a category 4 hurricane. .
Up to a thousand gas stations in many areas of Florida are running out of fuel due to the stampede of residents leaving the threatened areas and seeking to fill their tanks.
In Fort Myers, Lee County, 70% of gas stations were out of fuel as of Monday night, although several tankers are replenishing supplies, especially in the Tampa area.
The eye of the system is forecast to impact the Tampa Bay area of Hillsborough County on Wednesday night, located in the middle of the forecast track cone.
The entire area is under a hurricane and storm surge warning, which in Tampa Bay could reach between 3 and 4.5 meters.
Mayor of Tampa asks to evacuate to protect life
Shelters in the most exposed counties, such as Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas, are already fuller than during recent Hurricane Helene, but are not yet at capacity.
Faced with a foreseeable massive arrival of residents, Pinellas County reported this Tuesday that it has opened two additional shelters for the evacuating population.
Both Hillsborough County, Pasco County and Pinellas County, all three on the west coast, offer free bus service until 7:00 p.m. local time (23:00 GMT) to transport evacuees to shelters.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said Tuesday at a news conference that Milton will be an “event like no other” and that “we can avoid any loss of life if people listen and evacuate.”
«Get out as fast as you can. “Don’t wait,” Castor stressed, warning that a lot of misinformation is circulating saying that the city does not have enough resources to respond to Milton’s arrival.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” as several local and federal agencies work “hand in hand” to make sure everyone is safe “as we endure whatever Milton throws at us,” the councilor added.
In its most recent bulletin, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that “today is the last day for Florida residents to prepare” at home or evacuate the areas designated by the authorities.
The danger of uncollected debris
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis acknowledged this Tuesday that, although it was imperative that the debris left by Hurricane Helene in its wake be cleaned before Milton’s arrival so that it does not become projectiles, this has not been accomplished. in its entirety.
An issue that the Tampa councilor also referred to, pointing out that, “unfortunately, we have run out of time and will not be able to remove the debris from the gardens.”
Therefore, Castor asked residents to move debris left unattended by the garbage collection service to their garages.
This Tuesday the port of Tampa Bay also stopped operating and will remain closed to maritime traffic both inbound and outbound until further notice.
The Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned this Monday that “this is the time to prepare” for the arrival of Milton. “If they tell you to evacuate, do it IMMEDIATELY!” he stressed.
Florida, which is still trying to recover from the damage from Helene, is preparing for the largest evacuation since 2017 due to the threat of Milton, which will cross almost the entire western state.
A total of 27 Florida counties are currently under hurricane warnings, as the Desantis administration works with the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association to negotiate lower rates on hotel rooms.
Florida has also reached agreements with Uber to provide free rides to and from shelters in counties with evacuation orders.
.
#Shelters #fill #thousands #evacuate #Florida #ahead #Miltons #arrival
