Florida sheriff gives somber advice to residents who defied mandatory evacuation order

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A northern Florida sheriff’s office gave out some rather somber advice to those who defied the county’s mandatory evacuation notice ahead of Hurricane Helene Thursday, which has strengthened to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm.

Ahead of the hurricane, county officials in the Sunshine State issued mandatory evacuations due to the storm producing “catastrophic” surges and flooding, but not everyone takes the evacuations seriously.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office gave some rather somber advice to residents who chose to wait out the storm, defying the mandatory evacuation order.

“If you or someone you know chose not to evacuate, PLEASE write your, Name, birthday and important information on your arm or leg in A PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Taylor County, which is mostly rural, sits in the North Central Region in Florida’s Panhandle.

The officials’ message is similar to what other officials have dolled out during past hurricanes.

“You cannot survive 20 feet or even 15 feet of storm surge,” Max Defender 8 Chief Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli said . “If you’re near the water and you know you’re going to flood, especially if you’re in a mobile home, too. You’ve got to go. You cannot take your chances. This is not survivable.”

Hurricane Helene ramped up to a major Category 4 and is expected to get even more powerful ahead of its evening landfall on Florida’s northwestern coast.

The storm is also expected to bring an “unsurvivable” storm surge of up to 20 feet to the Big Bend area, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, which called it a “nightmare surge scenario.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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