Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., appeared on Newsmax on Wednesday to implore Floridians to evacuate now and get out of harm's way as Hurricane Milton bears down on his state.
"The biggest thing we need right now is for people to evacuate," Donalds said on "National Report." "If you're in zone A or zone B in Collier County and Lee County, please evacuate. At this point, the governor is right. Get to a shelter. Get to a friend's house. Who's inland? That's probably the quickest way to get to safety at this point. You can still evacuate. There's still time to do that."
Hurricane Milton is now a Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds, according to an 8 a.m. ET National Hurricane Center advisory.
Donalds said the storm surge is going to be very deadly.
"You won't be able to survive it," Donalds said. "Just please get to safety. We're ready to go. We're very well prepared. Our local leadership here has been great. Gov. [Ron] DeSantis' leadership has been great. We need people to get out of harm's way. That's the number one thing right now"
Milton churned Wednesday toward a potentially catastrophic collision along the west coast of Florida, where some residents insisted they would stay after millions were ordered to evacuate and officials warned that stragglers would face grim odds of surviving.
The Tampa Bay area, home to more than 3.3 million people, faced the possibility of widespread destruction after avoiding direct hits from major hurricanes for more than a century. The National Hurricane Center predicted Milton, previously a monstrous Category 5 hurricane during much of its approach, would weaken but remain a major hurricane when it makes landfall late Wednesday.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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