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CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins was stunned by the “blunt” warning issued by Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor on-air as “catastrophic” Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, warning residents in evacuation areas who “choose to stay” are “going to die.”

Florida’s west coast is under a hurricane warning as the Category 5 storm, with its near-record 165 mph winds, threatens to bring unprecedented destruction to communities already recovering from Hurricane Helene just 12 days ago. Scientists predict Hurricane Milton’s center could make landfall on Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area.

Officials are delivering stark warnings to residents. In an appearance on Monday night on The Source With Kaitlin Collins, Castor did not mince her words when the host asked what she would say to Florida residents who are “not heeding” the “evacuation orders.”

I can tell you right now that they may have done that in other [hurricanes]; there’s never been one like this. And Helene was a wake-up call. This is literally catastrophic.

And I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas you are going to die.

Shocked by the response, Collins replied: “Wow. I mean, that is an incredibly blunt message, and I know you have a lot of experience dealing with these storms.”

“I’ve never said that [in the past],” Castor agreed. “A 10 to 12 foot surge? I mean, if this takes a

jog to the south, that’s going to save us from the storm surge. But if it stays on the track that it’s projected to be on right or if it goes a bit north it would be even worse. Some of the predictions are saying that Pinellas County, to the south of us [in Tampa], the entire county is going to be underwater. So this is something that I have never seen in my life and I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before. People need to get out.”

“And your message is just, this isn’t survivable?” Collins pressed.

“If we have that predicted storm surge, it is not survivable,” the mayor said.

Watch above on CNN.

Tags: CNN, Hurricane Milton, Jane Castor, Kaitlin Collins