As Hurricane Helene barrels closer to making landfall off of Florida’s coast, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office offered residents ignoring evacuation orders a stark warning that stunned many: mark your bodies with a permanent marker so that you can be identified later.
Taylor County, home to 20,000 residents in northern Florida near the Big Bend region, was expected to take a direct hit from the Category 4 storm, according to NBC News. The storm was projected to make landfall Thursday night. Sheriff Wayne Padgett said the county will be “in the dead center of” the storm, the news station reported.
“If you or someone you know chose not to evacuate, PLEASE write your name, birthday and important information on your arm or leg in A PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,” the Taylor County Sheriff's Office wrote in a social media statement.
The post generated more than 3,000 shares and hundreds of comments ranging from comparisons of Hurricane Katrina before it struck New Orleans in 2005, to fear for those choosing to ride out Helene.
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“It cannot be stressed enough how serious of a situation this is for Florida,” Jordan Hall, an international storm chaser for MyRadar Weather wrote on X.
“This has to be the most scariest post I’ve ever read, prayers for everybody up there,” wrote Florida resident Tyler White in a Facebook comment to the sheriff’s office.
“I felt the same way reading this. Very surreal way to put it,” another Facebook user, Jen Marie, responded.
Another user Traci Elliott chimed in: “Morbid yes but also helpful.”