Staying put safest option, says woman in Milton evacuation zone

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ( NewsNation ) — A St. Petersburg resident told NewsNation she’s staying put as Hurricane Milton approaches landfall because it was the safest option available to her.

“The main reason is that we live in a concrete building, and the alternatives weren’t concrete buildings,” explained Vivienne Marran.

St. Petersburg officials warned residents Wednesday afternoon that regardless of where the storm hits, the city should prepare for extended power outages and the possible shutdown of its sewerage system.

Mayor Ken Welch said residents should brace for a long recovery.

“This is the reality of a direct hit from a powerful hurricane in our area. This is not a storm that we will recover from quickly. We have a long road ahead of us, but we will recover, and we will rebuild,” Welch said. “But for the next several hours, our focus is to keep everyone safe, and we can do that.”

Despite the warnings, Marran said she feels safe.

“We can go into a fairly big hallway with no glass in it at all and completely surrounded by concrete,” she said of her apartment building. “And we’ve even got another one beyond that, which is like a bunker. So we feel really safe. We do feel safe. I don’t think we’re going to die. I hope not, anyway.”

Marran said they have more than enough provisions on hand for any eventualities.

“We’ve got loads of supplies,” she said. “We’ve got loads of water, we’ve got loads of food. We’ve got food if we keep power. We’ve got food if we lose power. We’ve got backup batteries. We’ve got backup charges. We’ve really got a lot of supplies. We’re really well prepared.”

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