ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Hurricane Milton is plowing toward the west coast of Florida. It is a major Category 3 storm and set to come ashore later tonight. Its impacts are already being felt across almost the entire peninsula of Florida - heavy rain, dozens of tornadoes. Here's Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking earlier today.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
RON DESANTIS: We are bracing and are prepared to receive a major hit. We're facing this with the seriousness it deserves, but also with the determination that we will get through this.
SHAPIRO: Officials say this could be one of the most destructive storms in state history. They're telling residents their time to find safety has run out. NPR's Adrian Florido is just south of Tampa, in Sarasota. Hi, Adrian.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: Tell us the latest on Milton's arrival and potential impacts.
FLORIDO: Well, the eye of the hurricane is on course, as you said, to make landfall later tonight. The eye is actually projected to pass right over where we are, here in Sarasota. That could still change. But what officials are saying will not change is the storm's catastrophic impact. The sustained winds are going to be brutal and will tear off roofs. And what people are really worried about is the storm surge - that wall of seawater that Milton's winds are going to push onto land. It could reach 12 feet, officials are saying. Houses will be submerged. Some may be washed away. And at this point, hundreds of thousands of people - if not millions - have evacuated.
SHAPIRO: I know you are in your hotel now. But as you were driving around Sarasota earlier today, what did you see?
FLORIDO: Well, aside from the rain and the wind, driving through neighborhoods, it's an eerie quiet. Many people have boarded up their homes and, like I said, gotten out of dodge. Not everyone has left, though. I ran into Elizabeth Ward (ph) in front of her house in a neighborhood not too far from the water. It's in a part of town that was told to evacuate because of concern over the storm surge. Ward told me a lot of neighbors left, but some did not. She and her husband were boarding up their windows and planning to stay at home.
ELIZABETH WARD: We might make the last-minute decision to go to the evacuation shelter. But as of right now, I think we're going to try to ride it out.
FLORIDO: She did evacuate her three youngest children, and then she, her husband and two oldest kids decided to stay. She told me she is not at all confident that that projected storm surge will not reach them. If it does reach them, they're in trouble because it's a small, one-story house, and they're going to have no way out.
SHAPIRO: So why not just leave?
FLORIDO: It's a difficult question for a lot of people. Some have been through storms before, and they just hope it's not going to be as bad as forecast. Others can't afford to leave or don't want to go to shelters. For Ward, she said it was logistically going to be a nightmare, but she also said this.
WARD: I'm a hurricane girl. I love hurricanes. I love the excitement. I love the wind. I love the rain. I love a good thunderstorm. But this one definitely has me - has my heart in my throat. I am definitely a little scared about this one.
FLORIDO: Now, she said she knows it's not a good idea to stick around. Officials have been pleading with people to evacuate - they had been. But at this point, unless it's a life-threatening situation, officials are saying it's really too late and not safe to be outdoors right now.
SHAPIRO: We've seen interstates clogged with people leaving the region. Counties also made shelters available closer to people's homes. Have those filled up?
FLORIDO: They have been filling up. I went to a large one at a public high school here in Sarasota today - this hulking, sturdy, concrete complex of buildings with space for about 2,000 people. It was full, but staff were depositing last-minute arrivals into every nook and cranny. This is Acencion Errera (ph). He's an immigrant from Mexico, and he checked in there earlier today.
ACENCION ERRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
FLORIDO: He said that he lives in a wooden house, and he was afraid that it could be flattened. It was remarkable, Ari, to see this packed shelter. People in Florida are used to hurricanes. They tend to resist evacuating. They don't like to leave their homes. But to see so many people from all walks of life there - it speaks to the widespread fear that Milton is causing. People at the shelter told me they think this could be the worst storm of their lives. So it's good they're there. Those people are going to live.
SHAPIRO: NPR's Adrian Florido reporting from Sarasota, Florida. Thank you, and stay safe.
FLORIDO: Thanks, Ari. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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