These stubborn Floridians are refusing to evacuate from Hurricane Milton, despite warnings that you will die
ST.PETERSBURG, Florida — These are the hard-headed Floridians who have ignored repeated, dire warnings to get the hell out of dodge.
“I guess I’m going down with the ship if I have to,” said 60-year-old Marc Tucker, whom The Post found driving around his neighborhood in a bright yellow, 40-inch lifted Jeep Wrangler with a waterproofed interior.“I live about four blocks from the water. All my neighbors have gone.I’m the only one left on my block.
Everyone left but me.They all want me to call them to let them know I’m safe.”Tucker said he’s not leaving, despite Tampa Mayor Jane Castor telling residents in mandatory evacuation zones that “If you choose to stay … you are going to die.”Tucker appears to be the only one left on his seaside block in St.
Petersburg, which sits on a peninsula separating Tampa Bay from the Gulf of Mexico and has been largely evacuated as the Category 4 storm’s 12-foot surge could strike by midnight.“I have a fear of leaving and coming back to a mess or not being able to get back to my house at all,” he said.Tucker, however, is confident the storm will land further south of the Tampa Bay area, a possibility that would lessen Milton’s potentially disastrous impacts.
If it doesn’t, he thinks he’s prepared anyway.“I’ve got rechargeable batteries charged up for flashlights, I’ve got a generator for food, I’ve got two vehicles full of gas, I’ve got 25 gallons of gas in jugs,” he said.Other than a handful of holdouts, the streets of St.Petersburg and Tampa were all but empty by Wednesday morning — with some 6.5 million Floridians evacuating inland to avoid the worst of Milton.Though a car can be seen here and there darting about the neighborhoods, most of the activity is from police patrolling the streets and broadcasting a recorded message demanding residents make their final preparations and get out of town.Another holdout ignoring evacuation orders is 74-year-old George Beaty, who plans to s...