TikTok influencer Morgan Roos has been posting updates as she plans to wait out Hurricane Milton in her home in Tampa, Florida without evacuating, and many of her commenters are horrified. Roos has over 650,000 followers on TikTok, and she lives in a high-rise apartment on the riverfront right in this storm’s path. As the storm approaches, she has admitted that she is beginning to have second thoughts about waiting out the storm instead of evacuating.
Roos has posted four videos so far on Wednesday, Oct. 9 in the hours before the storm is expected to hit. She explained there that she chose to ignore the advice of public safety officials and try to wait out the storm in her apartment, hoping that the flooding wouldn’t reach her on her upper floor. She went into more detail in a phone interview with News Nation, explaining that she just recently rode out Hurricane Helene in her home and she expected to be able to do the same this time around. However, Milton will be the strongest hurricane to make a direct hit on Tampa in over 100 years, and meteorologists expect it to be devastating.
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“I was here during Helene. I decided to wait that one out, and I watched the water rise, but it only came up on the Riverwalk. And now I am not feeling so confident in my decision,” she said. When asked why she chose not to evacuate, she said: “I’ve got two dogs with me; got my mom here. The only sense of community I have here in Florida are people who live in my building, and they’re all hunkering in together. So we’re going to [pool] resources and go that way.”
“The thing that scares me the most is just the fact that Helene hit two weeks ago,” she went on. “When I’ve been driving like, up and down the residential neighborhoods, there’s debris stacked like eight feet high… I think I really, really, really underestimated this. But I have four cases of water. My neighbors told me they have a bunch of flashlights. I have food, I’ve got a propane tank. I did everything that the internet told me to do. I just didn’t get a flashlight in time.”
Roos is not the only one who is ignoring evacuation orders – and not the only one who is doing so with a platform. A report by Rolling Stone documents many of the prominent social media influencers who are staying in the storm’s path, either by choice or by circumstance. Many found themselves unable to get out in time due to financial restrictions, damage to their vehicles or gridlock on roads and public transit.
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on Wednesday evening between Tampa and Sarasota. The latest updates are coming from the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service, while news on emergency services will come directly from local first responders. Those still in the storm’s path are advised to shelter in place.
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As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warns residents about the impending devastation. Photo Credit: CNN
