Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refuses call from VP Kamala Harris ahead of Hurricane Milton: Source

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to take a call with Vice President Kamala Harris about Hurricane Milton, a source close to the governor told ABC News.

The DeSantis team believes the call from the vice president is politically motivated, according to the source, and is thus refusing to take the call.

DeSantis staffers also said the governor has not spoken to President Joe Biden in at least the last few days in the wake of Hurricane Helene and as the massive Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida.

"If you have the president and you have the vice president reaching out to offer up assistance provided to your constituents, the people who live in your state, to make sure we are doing everything that we need to do from federal response -- and we're reaching out, offering our support, that's where ... it is up to [DeSantis] if he wants to respond to us or not," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday afternoon.

Despite the lack of communication between them, Jean-Pierre said the administration is still working with state and local officials to make sure that teams are pre-positioned ahead of Milton’s landfall.

The governor did speak with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday, and federal officials are continuing to work with state emergency managers to prepare for Hurricane Milton’s landfall.

DeSantis' refusal to take Harris' call was first reported by NBC News.

Hurricane Milton strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, and Florida officials are urging residents to evacuate while they still can.

"Time is going to start running out very, very soon," DeSantis said at a news conference Monday morning.

More than 50 counties along Florida's west coast are now under state of emergency orders and several are under evacuation orders, including Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota. All evacuation orders are listed on Florida's Division of Emergency Management website.

The storm is is expected to weaken, but will still be a major Category 3 hurricane by the time it makes landfall in Florida late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Ahead of landfall, Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state to allow federal assistance to begin supplementing local efforts.

Flooding is expected, and storm surge is a significant threat.

A record-breaking storm surge of 8 to 12 feet is expected in the Tampa Bay area, as Floridians continue cleaning up from the 6 to 8 feet of storm surge that was just brought on by Hurricane Helene.

ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez contributed to this report.