Seminole County had to clear an evacuation order after a false warning was issued telling the entire county to leave the area ahead of Hurricane Milton.

As WESH reports, an evacuation order has been issued in the county exclusively for those in mobile homes, low-lying areas and those with special needs.

Locals panicked after accidentally receiving a warning that the entire country needed to evacuate ahead of the historic storm.

The National Weather Service said much of Seminole County will receive more than 15 inches of rain through Saturday.

The center of Hurricane Milton could make landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which hasn’t been directly hit by a major hurricane in more than a century.

Locals in Seminole County panicked after accidentally receiving a warning that the entire country needed to evacuate ahead of the historic storm.

A man loads sandbags onto his truck as they are distributed to a Pinellas County resident

Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, although it could retain hurricane strength as it swirls over central Florida toward the Atlantic. This would largely spare other states devastated by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Carolinas.

“This is the real deal here with Milton,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said at a news conference. “If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100 percent of the time.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that it was imperative to clear the debris from Helene before Milton’s arrival so that the debris could not become projectiles. More than 300 vehicles collected debris on Sunday.

As evacuation orders were issued, forecasters warned of a possible storm surge of 8 to 12 feet in Tampa Bay. That was the highest level ever predicted for the region and nearly double the level two weeks ago during Helene, said Maria Torres, spokeswoman for the National Hurricane Center.

The storm could also cause widespread flooding. Five to 10 inches of rain was forecast for mainland Florida and the Keys, with up to 15 inches in some places.

More than 3.3 million people live in the Tampa metropolitan area.

“It’s a huge population.” “It’s very exposed, very inexperienced, and it’s a lost cause,” said Kerry Emanuel, a meteorology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A local resident secures aluminum shutters on windows in Dunedin ahead of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall this evening

Satellite image of Hurricane Milton taken at 7:51 UTC (8:51 UK BST) as it approaches Florida on Wednesday

Florida Army National Guard members search for remaining residents in nearly deserted Bradenton Beach, where piles of debris from Hurricane Helene’s flooding still lie in front of damaged homes prior to the arrival of Hurricane Milton, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024

“I always thought Tampa was the city people would worry about the most.”

Large parts of Florida’s west coast were under hurricane and storm surge warnings. A hurricane warning was also issued for parts of the Mexican state of Yucatan, which assumed that the storm would overwhelm.

Milton rapidly strengthened over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Monday. According to the National Hurricane Center, maximum sustained winds were 165 miles per hour. The center of the storm was about 630 miles southwest of Tampa late Monday and was moving east at a speed of 9 miles per hour.

The Tampa Bay area is still recovering from Helene and its strong recovery. Twelve people died there, with the worst damage occurring along a series of barrier islands from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.

As the storm approached, schools in Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg, were converted into emergency shelters. The airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando should be closed. Walt Disney World said operations are operating normally for now.

Hundreds of lineman trucks were out in The Villages, Florida on Tuesday. Thousands of trucks are being deployed and deployed after Hurricane Milton hits Florida. Hurricane Milton 2024

In Mexico, the governor of Yucatan state, Joaquín Díaz, ordered a halt to all non-essential activities except grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies and gas stations starting Monday, and Mexican officials organized buses to evacuate residents from the coastal town of Progreso.

It’s been two decades since Florida was hit by so many storms in such a short period of time. In 2004, Florida was hit by five storms in six weeks, including three hurricanes that devastated Central Florida.