Milton is classified as a Category 4 storm that could be upgraded to Category 5 at some point.

“I can say without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die,” Castor, a Democrat elected in 2019, said.

The mayor noted she has “never said that” but that the 10- to 12-foot storm surges could place Pinellas County, to the south of Tampa, underwater. A storm surge occurs due to rising water resulting from incoming hurricanes and other low-pressure storm systems.

“This is something that I have never seen in my life, and I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before,” Castor noted. “People need to get out.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who represents Pinellas County, acknowledged that residents in her congressional district will die if they don’t leave an evacuation zone.

“She is correct,” Luna posted on X. “If you do not evacuate, you will lose your life. Please leave if you are in an evac zone.”

Castor has had lifelong connections to the Tampa area, going to high school and college there while also serving with the city’s police department for 31 years. She took the position of police chief for six years before running to become Tampa’s mayor.

But despite her long connections to the area, as she noted, she has never seen a storm like this. Hurricane Helene, which devastated those in North Carolina but spared Florida by comparison, was a “wake-up call” but that Milton is going to be “catastrophic.”

While Florida as a whole is accustomed to handling hurricanes battering the coasts, Tampa, on the western side of the state, hasn’t been in the direct line of fire of a hurricane in more than 100 years. As a result, the region’s building codes and regulations are not as weather-resistant as other parts of the state, which could make the damage to the region even worse.

Hurricanes don’t regularly track to run over Tampa, but residents are familiar with their threats — both from watching other parts of the state getting washed away and by seeing storms encroaching on their own backyards. In 2012, the Republican National Convention, which was being held in Tampa, was delayed as Hurricane Isaac threatened the city.

Evacuation zones A and B, which are the closest areas to the coast and the ones noted by Castor, include Tampa International Airport, MacDill Air Force Base, and significant chunks of downtown Tampa.

President Joe Biden has approved a state of emergency in Florida as the state awaits Milton.

“I just approved an emergency declaration from the State of Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement response efforts that may arise due to emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Milton,” Biden posted on X. “We expect this storm to again make landfall in western Florida and are working quickly to preposition federal response personnel and assets.”

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Twelve people died in Pinellas County, which largely shields Tampa from the Gulf of Mexico, when Hurricane Helene’s 8-foot storm surge hit the area. Most of them were warned to evacuate the area but chose not to.

And Milton, which is now aimed at Pinellas County and Tampa, is projected to be worse than Helene. Castor’s warning serves as a stern reminder to residents who choose not to evacuate again: They could be less lucky this time.