Hurricane Milton live updates: Millions told to leave as Biden makes 'life or death' warning for Florida

'It's a gamble we weren't willing to make': Floridians evacuating as storm nears

If you decide to live in Florida, you inevitably are entered into the "hurricane lottery," Gerald Lemus tells me from a hotel he's fled to.

Lemus has lived in the Gulf Coast city of Bradenton his whole life and has never evacuated until now. He saw the region devastated by Helene and watched as Milton quickly intensified. He made the decision to leave for Kissimmee - a more inland city - as he glanced over at his 8-year-old daughter watching Bluey.

"I just looked at her and I couldn't traumatise her to something like this," he told me. "It's a gamble we weren't willing to make."

His one-story home was built in the 1950s and has an older roof and windows.

"A category five, that is like a giant tornado coming at you," he said. "I wouldn't want to be there. This will be a life-changing storm no matter where it hits."

Chynna Perkins wrestled with the idea to evacuate her Tampa home but she and her husband have two large dogs. She felt safe in her newer construction home.

"I don't think people really understand how much planning has to go into a decision like this," she told me. "There's so much traffic and barely any gas available right now. People are running out of gas on the highway."