Canadians brace for Hurricane Milton as it hits Florida

As Hurricane Milton slams into Florida, many Canadians living in the storm's path are preparing to evacuate or hunker down.

The Canadian government is urging citizens to leave the affected areas immediately.

"This is about making sure that your life is safe, that the lives of your loved ones are safe as well," said Mélanie Joly, Canada's foreign affairs minister.

"And for all those who are thinking of going to Florida right now, wait. This is not the time."

Former Calgarians Diane and Don Brilz, who retired to Dunedin, Fla., are among those in the evacuation zone.

"We weren't sure, because this was still when it was kind of brewing, brewing in the Gulf, and they didn't know what was going to happen. But then as more information came in, we looked at each other and we said, first of all, we may be OK, but we know we'll be without power," Diane said.

"We didn't want to sit there and be without power."

Don added, "The mayor said if you're in the evacuation zone and you don't leave, make sure you write your name on your arm, so that when we find you after, we know who you are. That's how serious they are taking it."

Not everyone in their multi-storey complex is leaving.

"We know of 20 people that stayed in our apartment building," Diane said.

"People stayed because it's a very solid building, but I wouldn't want to be there."

Marilyn Nykiforuk, a Saskatchewan native now living in Sarasota, Fla., is preparing to stay put.

"I buy a lot of canned foods, I've frozen water bottles and other kinds of drinks," she said.

"I have a lot of ice in my fridge right now.

"I have a backpack ... clothing in bags for three days ... everything's enclosed in plastic bags, double and sometimes triple wrapped, so nothing gets wet."

Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging residents to evacuate.

"If you are in an evacuation zone ... just know that if you get 10 feet of storm surge, you can't just hunker down with that," he said.

"Mother Nature is going to win that fight."

Even on Florida's eastern shore, where Milton is not expected to hit with full force, emergency preparations are underway.

Calgarian Don Hladiuk, who is in Cocoa Beach near Cape Canaveral, said businesses are closing and boarding up windows.

"Most of the businesses are closed. They've been putting up plywood, boarding up the windows. Went to Walmart yesterday to get some survival food. We are expecting power to go out here probably tonight or tomorrow," Hladiuk said.

"So, we got some non-perishable food for the next few days. But at Walmart, they were covering all the freezer sections with large tarps. I guess if the power goes out, they're trying to preserve their frozen meats and foods."

Andreas Lambrinoudis, a business professor at Bow Valley College, said Milton's effects will be felt across North America.

"When you look at what they actually transport and they deliver to the north -- could be pharmaceuticals, could be anything from Amazon, because Amazon has a big fulfilment centre down there," Lambrinoudis said.

"It could be fruits and vegetables, food and beverage, all kinds of products that they have through their distribution centres, their warehouses there that would travel north -- that would make a major impact, too. They'll have major impact to Canada."

Airlines have cancelled flights to most locations in Florida.

Calgary-based WestJet has cancelled all direct flights to and from the affected areas this week.

The airline also sent a flight to Cancun to pick up stranded Canadians after the hurricane made landfall there.