Florida Governor Gives Grim Survival Odds to Those Choosing Not to Evacuate

Florida Governor Rick Scott delivered a terrifying warning to the state’s residents who have chosen not to evacuate before Hurricane Irma hits.

During a news conference, Scott said those refusing to flee from Irma “will not survive.” He estimated that the storm surges could rise up to 12 feet and will “cover your house.”

The warning comes before the hurricane touches ground in Florida, but after it completely destroyed properties and infrastructures in the Caribbean and killing at least 22 people.

“This is a deadly storm and our state has never seen anything like it,” Scott said. “Millions of Floridians will see major hurricane impacts with deadly storm surge and life-threatening winds.

“The threat of deadly storm surge heading along the east, entire west coast of Florida has increased and six to 12 feet – think about that.”

Scott added: “Six to 12 feet – this will cover your house. It flows in fast, then it flows out. You will not survive all this storm surge.”

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a warning on Saturday that the storm surges may be life-threatening. This occurs when the storm winds push the seawater onto the land. The most severe storm surge is projected to stretch for 200 miles from the southern Florida coast of Miami to the northern part of Fort Myers.

The Florida Keys are expected to experience a significant surge.

ABC News reports that the storm has shifted towards the Florida’s West Coast. Initial projections had it headed for the eastern part of the state.

As of 8 a.m. EST, Irma was 225 miles from Miami and travelling at 12 mph. It is a category 4 storm with maximum winds of 130 mph.

Cities including Fort Myers, Tampa, Naples, Sarasota and St. Petersburg are all in the path of this new projection, with the in-land and western areas of Florida still at risk.

The island city of Key West is still slated to be hit the hardest and winds are already picking up in South Florida.

Update 11:41 a.m. EST:

Hurricane Irma has been downgraded to a category 3 storm.