Just days after Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton is now nearing Florida. This category 4 hurricane threatens the state of Florida which is now preparing for the biggest evacuation since Hurricane Irma.

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, held a press conference. “I urge Floridians to finalize your storm preparations now and act your plan,” said Keving Guthrie, director of the Emergence Management Divison in Florida during the conference.

I highly encourage you to evacuate. We are preparing and I have the Mercy Response team preparing for the largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma,” said Guthrie. During Hurricane Irma, more than 6.8 million Floridians evacuated their homes with approximately $50 billion in damages.

Guthrie clarified who needed to evacuate as a result of Hurricane Milton. “But to that end, I wanna go back to our basics. Evacuate if you are in an evacuation zone,” said Guthrie. “If you are not in an evacuation zone and your house was built in conjunction with the Florida Building Code, which pretty much throughout the state of Florida means after 2004, you may be better just to stay in place.”