Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Wednesday that home in his district, which are still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Helene only a week earlier, will be "catastrophically flooded" by Hurricane Milton and residents in evacuation zones "need to get out now."
Steube told "National Report" that "the situation on the ground right now is deteriorating very quickly" in Florida, noting "it's been raining all morning" in his district with "tropical storm force winds" expected in the afternoon.
"So if you have not evacuated and you're in an evacuation zone, you need to get out now," the congressman warned.
Steube, who represents a congressional district in southwest Florida that includes Sarasota and Charlotte counties and is home to about 850,000 people, added, "The biggest concerns on the ground is that my district is still recovering from Hurricane Helene just over a week ago, and we had storm surge of five to seven feet that flooded the first floor of homes, if it was a one story home, it flooded the home."
He added that towns and cities along "the coastline in my district all got flooded and that debris was sitting on the side of the road. So local counties and municipalities and waste management have been working diligently to try to get that debris up before this hits today because you're just going to have things flying all over the place at 150 mph winds."
Steube said, "Homes that just recovered from Hurricane Helene are going to be completely, catastrophically flooded again, on top of having wind gusts over 150 mph."
The congressman said the latest forecasts show that the storm is "coming to my district, the Sarasota area. It keeps going farther south, which is great news for Tampa Bay. Really, really bad news for my district."
"Most of my counties in my district did evacuation orders," he said, adding that "the interstate northbound was fine" for evacuees on Tuesday despite "challenges to get gas logistically to the gas stations.
"The state is paying for Uber to be able to take people" out of evacuation zones.
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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