She didn’t leave for George. Or for Andrew. Or even Wilma. But a Florida Keys woman says she’s not going to wait out Irma.
Elizabeth Prieto told CBS News that she will be evacuating her home for the first time in 51 years.
She, along with everyone else in the Keys, has been told to get off their islands.
“We’re emphatically telling people you must evacuate, you cannot afford to stay on an island with a Category 5 hurricane coming at you,” Monroe County Emergency Management director Martin Senterfitt warned residents.
Most people are following Prieto’s lead and Senterfitt’s warning and have boarded up their property and are abandoning their homes and businesses.
Those who are stubborn enough to stay, will have to take shelter in their homes. Monroe County officials said there will be no public shelters opened during the storm, CBS News reported.
There is a mandatory visitor evacuation for the Keys, and any plans to visit the area in the coming days before and after the storm must be postponed.
There are a handful of flights scheduled to leave Key West Marathon Airport Thursday, and operations will continue there as the weather allows with flights expected to end Thursday until further notice.
Bus service is expected to continue through Friday.
For the latest information about evacuations, click here.
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