Hurricane Milton live: Florida residents warned ‘if you stay you’ll die’ as Category 4 monster storm heads for US

William Tokajer, the chief of police in Holmes Beach, said Tuesday that rapidly-approaching Hurricane Milton is going to be a “punch in the gut” for his community.

"This is devastating," he told FOX 13 Tampa. "It’s a punch in the gut for everybody out here that has been working so hard to rehab their houses and to get them ready so they can do reconstruction."

TECO, Duke and Florida Power and Light said they have no doubt that at least some of their 2.3 million customers in the Tampa Bay area will lose power, according to FOX 13 Tampa.

“Customers should expect to have widespread and extended outages,” said Mary Lou Carn of TECO.

Florida’s Division of Emergency Management has charted a map of evacuation zones across the Sunshine State.

Residents may be left wondering whether to leave their homes or stay put as Hurricane Milton barrels towards Tampa – which is due to make landfall on Wednesday evening. Evacuation orders have so far been issued to hundreds of thousands of Floridians.

“If you are in an evacuation zone that is ordered to evacuate by local authorities or in a flood zone, you should evacuate no matter what,” the agency advises on its website’s FAQ’s section.

The FDEM has collated a “Know Your Zone” list from local officials of areas and buildings that are most likely to be evacuated. Find out more, here.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrapped up his morning news conference by warning that Hurricane Milton could leave an “indelible mark” on the community.

“There are some hurricanes where it stinks we have to deal with it, but we pick up and move forward,” DeSantis said.

But looking at Minton’s wind speeds topping out at 180mph, the governor warns it may have a more long-lasting impact and “indelible mark” on communities it passes over.

“Let’s pray that it’s as weak as possible. But we are preparing for it to be as strong as possible,” he concluded.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned he will “throw the book” at looters if they try and take advantage of those evacuating ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall on Wednesday evening.

“This is not going to be an opportunity for folks to take advantage of people,” DeSantis warned. “If you think this is an opportunity to loot, you’ve got another thing coming.”

He added: “Do not try and take advantage of people who are suffering because of the results of the storm. We will be very swift across all levels of government to throw the book at people.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced four Category 5 hurricane-resistant shelters, some of which can hold up to 10,000 residents.

These are to be located in Polk County, Hillsborough County and Pasco County, DeSantis said.

The governor added while there are initially four of these larger, more robust shelters, more could be announced.

“Debris removal missions” continue, Ron DeSantis announced in a Tuesday morning news briefing.

The Florida Governor yesterday warned of the dangers of debris scattered across streets after Hurricane Helene tore through the state less than two weeks ago.

DeSantis said he is leading a 24/7 clean-up mission – including “prying open” and cutting locks of landfill sites that had closed after the he called for them to stay open.

More 1,200 truckloads of debris – 22,000 cubic yards – have been removed from hard-hit areas, according to DeSantis.

Meanwhile, 37,000 lineman are said to be either in or en route to Florida (some hailing from as far afield as California), ahead of potential blackouts.