By the time Nancy Parker realized she wanted to leave home and seek safety, it was too late.

Hurricane Helene’s storm surge ripped through her Bay Pines neighborhood, leaving streets impassable. Boats crashed into nearby mobile homes, tearing down their walls. Cars floated down the street, flooding it and totaling it. There was rubble everywhere.

“By the time it got scary enough for me, the chance to leave was already lost,” Parker, 49, said.

Now Pinellas County has again issued mandatory evacuation orders. This time it applies to zones A, B, C and all mobile home parks throughout the county.

As severe Hurricane Milton barrels into the region, Parker has advice for people like her who thought they might be able to weather the storm. “Get out. It won’t be safe,” she said. “Your life isn’t worth it.”

The Tampa Bay Times asked Pinellas County residents who chose to defy mandatory evacuation orders during Hurricane Helene what they would say to those who may still be unsure about leaving during Hurricane Milton.

Their answers were unanimous: Evacuate when asked to do so.

“Get out of there,” said Treasure Island resident Frank Pirelli. “It will be a horror.”

Pirelli stayed home during Helene because his elevated home in the Isle of Capri neighborhood had never suffered major damage from a storm. When Helene flooded his ground floor, he was shocked.

It wasn’t just the fear of staying home during a natural disaster that made him want to weather future storms. It also felt like being home. After the city shut off the water, he felt he had no choice but to leave the offshore island. The day after his house was flooded, he was taken away by the fire department.

On Monday afternoon, Pirelli was stuck in traffic on the way to his sister’s house in New Port Richey. But for him, this was a better option than what he left behind.

Jennifer Nienke, 49, ignored Pinellas County’s mandatory evacuation order for her Madeira Beach neighborhood. Their house was overwhelmed by a storm surge more than 6 feet high.

Now in a rental property further inland, Nienke said she feels much safer from Milton. But her heart aches for her neighbors in Madeira, some of whom had new kitchen appliances delivered to their coastal homes this morning.

She said her message to anyone undecided about evacuating is simple: “Don’t stay,” she said. “Do. Don’t. Stay.”

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