Hurricane Milton: Millions under evacuation orders as storm closes in on Florida

Florida officials are telling millions of residents the time to evacuate is running out as Hurricane Milton sets its sights on the state's west coast.

In Pinellas County, the peninsula including the cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg, everyone is being told to leave.

"By dusk, all the bridges off the peninsula will be closed. You'll be on your own after that," Pinellas County Emergency Management Director Cathie Perkins warned at a press conference Wednesday morning. First responders will be pulled off the roads due to flooding and high winds, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents in evacuation zones, particularly in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, to evacuate now.

"The roads are flowing, and shelters have space. There's still time," he said at a press conference Wednesday morning.

More than a dozen counties on Florida's west coast are at least in part under mandatory evacuation orders, including Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Flagler, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lee, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Johns and Volusia. Voluntary orders have also been given in several counties, including Glades, Dixie, Hardee, Miami-Dade, Okeechobee and Union. All evacuation orders are listed on Florida's Division of Emergency Management website.

"Please, if you're in the Tampa Bay area, you need to evacuate," Kevin Guthrie, executive director of Florida Emergency Management, urged at a news conference earlier this week. "Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave."

On Wednesday, Guthrie highlighted the state's extensive shelter capacity, reporting that approximately 31,000 individuals were sheltered as of Tuesday night, with the ability to accommodate over 200,000.

"If you think it's too late, there is room. Your home can be replaced, but you cannot," he urged.

Barbra Hernandez, communications director for Pinellas County, which includes the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, warned residents against thinking they can stay behind and protect their property.

"It's not like you're going out and swimming in the ocean," Hernandez said Tuesday. "This is the ocean coming into your living rooms. This is fast, rising water with a lot of pressure behind it. So don't think that you're going to be able to ride that out. Don't think you're going to be able to protect your building."

On Tuesday, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw warned that Hurricane Milton would be "the storm of the century."

"We've never seen anything like this before," Bercaw said.

President Joe Biden echoed the grim warning on Tuesday, stressing that evacuation was "a matter of life and death."

"This could be the worst storm in Florida in over a century, and God willing, it won't be, but that's what it's looking like right now," Biden said.

Florida's Division of Emergency Management said in a post on X that shuttles would be available for certain counties.

"10/8 there will be free shuttles operating in Pinellas, Pasco & Hillsborough counties assisting with #Milton evacuations to shelters," the post read.

The agency also said it had teamed up with Uber for rides to and from shelters in evacuating counties.

"We have partnered w/@Uber to provide Floridians free rides to & from shelters in counties evacuating for #Milton," the post read.

More than 50 counties in Florida are now under state of emergency orders.

The storm 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.

"If you live in a storm surge evacuation zone and you're asked to leave by your local officials, please do that," Michael Brennan, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center, told ABC News Live on Sunday. "You don't have to drive hundreds of miles to get to a safe place, often just tens of miles to get inland, out of that evacuation zone, to a shelter, a friend or loved one's home."

Brennan also urged Floridians to prepare a disaster kit with several days' worth of nonperishable food, water, medicine and batteries.

Ahead of landfall on Monday, President Joe 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' Jason Volack contributed to this report.