Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez told Newsmax on Wednesday that people who are considering taking advantage of Hurricane Milton to loot homes and businesses should think twice because law enforcement won't tolerate it.
"All of our local law enforcement officers, our sheriffs, their deputies, they have made it very clear that looting will not be tolerated," Nunez said during an appearance on Newsmax's "American Agenda." "Both our highway patrol, along with our FDLE [Florida Department of Law Enforcement] officers, they are going to work in tandem with the local law enforcement to protect people's homes."
She said recovery should be the focus.
"Those that prey on the vulnerable, especially during this time of need, seriously, I think that there is something significantly wrong with those people and we are not going to tolerate it here in the state of Florida, as well as those that are trying to take advantage post-storm," she continued. "There is going to be a tremendous amount of recovery that's going to need to take place.
"People's homes will need to be rebuilt. So, we encourage people to make sure they're working with legitimate contractors, people that are licensed, people that have good standing."
As the powerful Category 4 storm barrels toward Florida's west coast, the lieutenant governor said that the window for evacuating from the direct impact zone is rapidly closing.
"Well, we're getting to that point where, in many cases, in many counties, bridges have been shut," she said. "There are very few roads that are open for evacuation. Some you still can get to shelter and you can get to shelter safely, but, for example, in the Tampa Bay area, there are bridges that are closed. So, really and truly, that time has expired for people to be able to go out looking for shelter and safety. But what I will say is, if you're in a county where you can still get safely to a shelter, there is still opportunity for you to do so. But if you're in a county where you cannot, the best thing is to hunker down.
"This is going to be making landfall this evening into the morning hours. So, we want people to be safe."
For those who are staying at home during the storm, Nunez said to stay in an interior room in an area where there are no trees around it.
"What we've seen, sadly, some people have lost their lives when the tree has fallen into that area of the home," she said. "So, make sure you're staying in a part of the house where there are no trees around the outside the exterior of your home. And of course, we want people to be safe and the most important thing is to continue to follow FLSERT [Florida State Emergency Response Team] … on all the social media platforms."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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