The Terri Ammerman Group always advises our clients to develop clear, concise messages that leave no room for misunderstanding. With Hurricane Milton bearing down on the coast of Florida, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor delivered perhaps the bluntest message we have ever heard.
With much of Tampa under a mandatory evacuation order, Castor was interviewed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Castor said Tampa could experience a storm surge of 15 feet if the storm slammed head-on into the city or just to the north of it. The mayor seemed to shock Collins when she predicted that residents who refused to leave would pay with their lives, as you’ll see in the clip below.
“You’re going to die,” left absolutely no room for interpretation. Castor could have said something like, “your life will be in danger if you don’t leave.” Instead, she chose the most alarming warning imaginable.
Her message seemed to resonate with many residents, as evidenced by long lines of highway traffic heading away from the city in the days before the storm came ashore.
As it turned out, Hurricane Milton made landfall well south of Tampa. While there was serious damage to infrastructure and buildings, a deadly storm surge did not materialize and there were no initial reports of fatalities in the city.
So, did the mayor overreact? We don’t think so. She relied on the best information available to her and didn’t flinch in the face of potential criticism. Even though a historic catastrophe was averted, Castor’s message still probably saved some lives. And that’s what her message was designed to achieve.