Pinellas sheriff warns: "Everybody’s just got to get out"

CLEARWATER - Hurricane Helene’s storm surge could top 5 to 8 feet in Pinellas County, where Sheriff Bob Gualtieri had strong words for residents along the coast.

"I’m just gonna distill it down and put it in some really plain speak," the sheriff said Thursday morning. "Everybody’s just got to get out."

The sheriff’s comments came during a briefing as county officials implored those living in Evacuation Zone A – which is both coasts and other low-lying areas – to evacuate. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Wednesday.

"Doesn’t mean that they’ve got to go to Georgia. Doesn’t mean they got to go to North Carolina," Gualtieri continued. "Go to U.S. 19. Just get out of the area that you will not be able to get out of come this afternoon and early this evening."

Hurricane Helene surge forecast

Helene is expected to make landfall this evening in the Big Bend, coming ashore near Tallahassee as a powerful Category 3 or 4 hurricane. But the storm’s wide wind field is generating huge waves and pushing a massive amount of water ahead of it – water that will wash ashore as the storm passes.

The National Hurricane Center warned that storm surge could reach 8 feet along the Pinellas coast and around Tampa Bay. Minor coastal flooding was already a problem Thursday morning, with the worst expected Thursday night.

RELATED: Hurricane Helene Pinellas County updates & information

Gualtieri said there were still "way too many people" who had not left Zone A and warned that, as conditions got worse, emergency crews might not be able to stage rescues.

"There’s gonna reach a point where you’re on your own. We’re not going to get our people killed because you don’t want to listen to what we’re saying," he warned.

"We all heard the adage: Play stupid games, win stupid prizes," Gualtieri added. "Somebody’s gonna win a stupid prize because we’re not coming."