“If you can get out, get out.” Florida officials continue to urge residents to evacuate or seek shelter

Florida officials continue to urge residents that haven’t evacuated yet to leave the area or seek shelter as Category 5 Hurricane Milton makes its way towards the state.

Jodie Fiske, Public Safety Director for Manatee County, told CNN’s Rosemary Church that as of Wednesday morning there are about 5,000 residents in shelters in the county.

Nine shelters are currently open, with more on standby and Fiske says the current shelters are at about 50% capacity.

Manatee County is home to Bradenton and is just south of Tampa.

In Pasco County, officials are sending the same message to residents and urging them to seek shelter if they haven’t already.

Colin Burns, Deputy Incident Commander in Pasco County, told CNN that the county is housing about 3,000 residents in shelters as of Wednesday morning.

There are six shelters in the area at “quite high” capacity, according to Burns, but county officials have 10 additional shelters on standby.

“Do not hesitate,” Burns said, “If you can get out, get out.”

Crews in the area have worked tirelessly to clean up debris left from Hurricane Helene and will continue to work while the weather permits them to do so, according to Burns.

Pasco County is located just north of Tampa and is home to New Port Richey and Land O’ Lakes.