Incomplete Hurricane Milton Evacuation Alert Panics Some Florida Residents: 'Almost Gave Me a Heart Attack'

Some Florida residents say they were “terrified” and briefly sent into a panic after a county-wide evacuation order was sent with incomplete information ahead of Hurricane Milton. 

Early on Wednesday, Oct. 9, a generic evacuation alert for Seminole County, outside of Orlando, went out that simply warned of an “emergency alert” and said the county had ordered people to leave because of Milton. 

Minutes later, a clarified alert was sent that stated the evacuation order was only for “mobile homes, flood areas, and persons with special needs.”

But that short window of time still caused confusion among locals — and drew backlash.

“Your first alert terrified this community and you’ve dropped the ball clarifying, sending folks scrambling for accurate info,” one resident tweeted to county officials on X.

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Another user echoed that, writing on X, "You almost gave me a heart attack with that first message."

And on Facebook, someone posted, “What a crap notification they sent this morning with no details until minutes later.”

“I woke up and was immediately startled by the [first] notification,” a county resident named Jessica Brunner told TV station WKMG. “I was barely awake and trying to think about how to get my cats and me to safety. I was scared and confused.”

A Seminole County spokeswoman said in a response to a request for comment from PEOPLE that "the initial evacuation alert did not have the details on specific populations attached to every device. IPAWS alerts [a federal government system] only allow for 90 characters."

"The second alert included the specifics on the evacuation alert for mobile homes, flood prones [sic] areas and those with special needs," the spokeswoman said.

Millions of people have reportedly been placed under mandatory or voluntary evacuation as Milton approaches Florida’s western coast. It is expected to make landfall sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday, Oct. 10.

Local, state and national officials have warned of potentially fatal storm conditions from the hurricane, including surge from the ocean and intense winds.

"Drowning deaths due to storm surge are 100% preventable if you leave,” Florida Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said at a news conference earlier this week, ABC News reported.