Gov. DeSantis: Florida expects deaths from Hurricane Milton storm surge

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is funneling historic efforts into storm management as Hurricane Milton is projected to make landfall in Florida late Wednesday or early Thursday. He urged residents: “You still have time to evacuate.”

DeSantis recommended residents in evacuation zones travel today to one of the 149 shelters open throughout the state, especially after witnessing the storm surges Hurricane Helene imposed.

“That is hazardous, that is life-threatening and you’d be wise to go to a shelter and ride it out, rather than try to mess with that,” he said. “If there are a lot of people that do stay behind, I mean, unfortunately, there will be fatalities. I don’t think there’s any way around it when you have storm surges that could be 10 feet.”

There are six state-operated shelters that have generators and internet connectivity and 36 shelters designated for people with special needs. Statewide, shelters are currently at an estimated 15% of their capacity. DeSantis said they’re capable of housing nearly 200,000 people.

He said Uber will provide free rides to shelters in counties with mandatory evacuation orders.

Most School Districts will be closed today, and he said some will be used as shelters, too.

DeSantis said, by the time Milton makes landfall, over 50,000 power line workers will be staged in Florida — the highest number of utility linemen deployed in U.S. history. In record-breaking state history, he said 6,000 Florida guardsmen and 3,000 national guardsmen will comprise rescue teams that will begin operating after the storm passes.

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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.