North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest lost his own home in Hurricane Matthew two years ago, and on Thursday stressed that "stuff" can be replaced if lost during Hurricane Florence, but people can't.
"Nobody should be a hero or try to ride this one out," the Republican leader told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"You don't live to tell stories about storm surge if you're trying to survive that in your house. You may survive the wind and rain but not the storm surge. You still have time. Now is the time to get out. Life safety is number one right now."
Forest said he and his family moved on and built a new house after Matthew.
Many people are heeding the warnings, said Forest, and shelters are filling up as people are taking the message seriously.
"You can't predict even where the storms will go," he said. "We've learned that lesson many times. You can be far inland in North Carolina and still have major impact."
The storm's track has changed several times, said Forest, and he is concerned that people are not as worried now that they see the hurricane has been downgraded from a Category 4 to a 2.
"I think we'll see a lot of homes washed and blown away and see Barrier Islands that have new channels cut into them," said Forest.
"Highway 12 always gets washed away. We'll see that happen. You have to prepare for the worst, bill. But again, as I said earlier, that stuff is just stuff."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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