By the time Nancy Parker realized she wanted to leave her home and seek safety, it was too late.

Hurricane Helene’s storm surge swept through her Bay Pines neighborhood, making the streets impassable. Boats crashed into nearby mobile homes, tearing down their walls. Cars floated down the street, became submerged and totaled. There was rubble everywhere.

“When it got scary enough for me, the chance to leave was already gone,” says Parker, 49.

Now, Pinellas County has again issued mandatory evacuation orders. This time it is for zones A, B, C and all mobile home parks throughout the country.

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward the region, Parker has advice for people like her who thought they could weather the storm. ‘Go away. It won’t be safe, she said. “Your life isn’t worth it.”

The Tampa Bay Times asked Pinellas County residents who decided to bypass mandatory evacuation orders during Hurricane Helene what they would say to those who might be on the fence about leaving during Milton.

Their answers were unanimous: evacuate when told.

“Get out of there,” said Treasure Island resident Frank Pirelli. “It’s going to be horror.”

Pirelli stayed home during Helene because his elevated house in the Isle of Capri district had never suffered major damage from a storm. When Helene flooded his ground floor, he was shocked.

It wasn’t just the fear of staying home during a natural disaster that changed his mind about weathering future storms. It was also like coming home afterwards. Once the city turned off the water, he felt like he had no choice but to leave the barrier island. A day after his house was flooded, he got a ride with the fire brigade.

On Monday afternoon, Pirelli was stuck in traffic on the way to his sister’s house in New Port Richey. But for him that was a better option than what he leaves behind.

Jennifer Nienke, 49, ignored Pinellas County’s mandatory evacuation order for her Madeira Beach neighborhood. Her home was hit by a storm surge of more than six feet.

Now that she lives in a rental home further inland, Nienke says she feels much safer than Milton. But her heart aches for her neighbors in Madeira, with some having new kitchen appliances delivered to their coastal homes this morning.

She said her message to anyone on the fence about evacuating is simple: “Don’t stay,” she said. “Do. Don’t. Stay.”

• • •

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