Chilling footage has surfaced on social media showing terrified Florida residents frantically trying to escape the path of Hurricane Milton.

A video shared on TikTok reveals long lines of traffic in the Sunshine State as thousands evacuate. “People are stuck on bridges during Hurricane Milton,” read the caption of the clip, shared by user Joy (@joysparkleshine).

The user added: “Nobody’s getting out of Florida. It [queuing vehicles] is just as far as you can see. Just dead stopped.” The Tampa Bay area, on the east coast, is expected to be hit first later today (October 9), and millions have been advised to flee their homes.

The fearsome category 5 hurricane, which US President Joe Biden described as potentially “the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century,” is set to cause extensive damage when it makes landfall and moves across the state towards the Atlantic Ocean. Joy’s distressing clip quickly went viral, with over 1.5 million users viewing it and many expressing their sadness at the dire situation.

One Floridian said their family members had used “back roads” to escape, but even that route took twice as long as usual. “My family is by Clearwater and they came to me in Orlando yesterday,” they said. “They busted out the old atlas and paper map and went through backroads. GPS said almost 5 hours otherwise when normally its 2.5.”

Another person shared a similar experience and offered a piece of invaluable advice, responding: “We got out yesterday. Stay off of the interstates and navigate the county roads. That’s the only way to avoid all of the traffic.”

Meanwhile, from a distance, others expressed their sorrow at watching the disaster unfold. “This is heart-breaking to see,” one individual commented. “It honestly looks like a scene out of those movies about the apocalypse that were super popular like 10 years ago.”

A sympathetic Brit chimed in with their feelings of helplessness: “I don’t know why but I have a huge sense of guilt watching all this unfold over here in the UK knowing I can’t help. I’m so sorry to everyone who’s affected by this. I’m thinking of everyone.”

In another distressing update, meanwhile, TikTok user Bentgod (@thebentgod) reported that Tampa’s main escape route, the I-75, was jammed, with vehicles “running out of gas” during the evacuation. He revealed: “People are waiting 11 hours simply to move 5 miles.”

He continued with alarming news about fuel shortages: “All the gas stations are running out of gas, there’s only 16% of all gas stations in Florida have gas right now and essentially all evacuation routes are out of gas. News outlets are reporting that there are 30 miles of stalled vehicles – they will not be moved until the hurricane is over.”