Although South Florida is not within Hurricane Milton’s direct path, tropical-storm-force winds plus heavy rain are expected, which means the possibility of localized flooding.
And that means taking even more caution than usual while driving.
The National Weather Service is blunt in its warnings: The agency is calling its awareness campaign “turn around, don’t drown."
"Here's a crucial point we want to emphasize: If a car before you enters the flood waters and crosses it does not mean you can too. Conditions change rapidly and it's never safe to drive through flood waters," said Joseph Truijillo-Falcón with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Lab, in a PSA for NWS this summer.
According to NWS, more people die from flooding deaths than from any other thunderstorm-related hazard and half of those flooding deaths occur in vehicles.
READ MORE: 'It's going to be a mess' — fighting a storm surge with sandbags tarps and absorbent booms
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