Florida Police Chief: If You Don’t Evacuate for Hurricane Milton, Write Your Name on Yourself so Body Can Be Identified
Florida officials have told residents who are not evacuating from Hurricane Milton’s path to write their names and information on themselves in case their bodies need to be identified after the storm.
Holmes Beach Police Department Chief Bill Tokajer told CNN’s Paul Murphy on Tuesday, “If you don’t take heed, you’re on your own.”
“You might as well take a Sharpie and write your name and Social Security number on your leg so that when we find you, we have a contact… Because you staying out here is not going to work,” Tokajer, whose city is located on Anna Maria Island in the Tampa Bay area, said.
“It is not going to be good for you,” the chief added.
In a live appearance from the island on Tuesday, Murphy said Tokajer told him, “If you stay, they cannot get you.”
“They were able to do some water rescues in [Hurricane] Helene; that will not happen with Milton,” the CNN reporter said. “Once the winds, which are forecasted to start here at tropical storm force gusts, once they start tomorrow at around 8:00 a.m., he expects that by noon, they’re not going to be able — they’re going to have to evacuate the island themselves.”
“So, starting at noon tomorrow, if you’re here, there will not be help coming for you. You are on your own and [the police chief has] made that very clear,” he added.
The dire warnings came after Tampa’s Mayor Jane Castor (D) issued a somber alert:
“If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re gonna die,” Castor said in a Monday interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“This is something that I have never seen in my life,” she added. “People need to get out.”
Castor reiterated her point in a Tuesday press conference, telling constituents that their homes would turn into their “coffins.”
“And individuals that are in these, say you’re in a single-story home. Twelve feet is above that house. So, if you’re in it, you know, basically that’s the coffin you’re in,” the mayor said.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management announced on Wednesday morning that it is now people’s “last chance to evacuate in response to #Milton” before it is set to make landfall in the evening :
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) also warned Floridians that time is “running out” in a Wednesday morning social media post:
“As of this morning, Hurricane Milton is still a Category 4 storm. Even if it weakens before landfall, Milton will be a major hurricane with catastrophic impacts on our state,” the governor wrote on X.
“Now is the time to execute your hurricane preparedness plan. Heed evacuation warnings from your local emergency management officials,” he continued. “Time is running out—but there are free shelters in your area with enormous capacity still available, traffic is flowing, and shuttles and Uber rides are still available at no cost. You don’t need to evacuate hundreds of miles but tens of miles to avoid deadly storm surge. Belongings can be replaced; your life cannot.”
DeSantis added that “over 50,000” linemen are geared up and ready to restore power to the state after Milton tears through.
The state is prepping for Milton less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene ravaged portions of the Appalachian Mountains, killing at least 232 people.
