Manatee County Jail refuses to evacuate its 1200 inmates despite being in a mandatory evacuation zone for Milton

As of Tuesday afternoon, Manatee County Jail is not planning on evacuating approximately 1,200 inmates, even as state and local officials stress that Florida residents should heed evacuation warnings ahead of Hurricane Milton’s arrival.

Hurricane Milton was classified as a Category 4 hurricane on Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, making it 2 mph shy of a Category 5 hurricane.

After hitting Category 5 status on Monday, the storm weakened slightly but appears to be intensifying again. Forecasts show Milton making landfall in Tampa on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, but the expected wind speeds and exact location of landfall are still uncertain.

On Tuesday afternoon, a Manatee County Jail deputy told Newsweek that the jail is in the Zone A evacuation zone. Manatee County has issued mandatory evacuations for all people in Zones A and B.

“We do not issue evacuation orders lightly,” Manatee County Public Safety Director Jodie Fiske said. “Milton is anticipated to cause more storm surge than Helene. So, if you stayed during Helene and got lucky, I would not press my luck with this particular system.”

However, as of Tuesday afternoon, the deputy said that officials had not planned to evacuate the jail. The jail has stocked up on supplies and sandbags, and should it flood, inmates could be moved to the top floor of the two-story building.

The deputy said the jail had not flooded to that extent in the past. Deputies will also remain at the jail during the storm.