A scary and sleepless night for millions as Hurricane Milton plowed through Florida.
It moved into the state as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of around 200 kilometres per hour, but within a short time, it reduced to a Category 1, with winds slowing to 150 kilometres.
Brenda Reeves evacuated her mobile home in Zephyrhills on Wednesday afternoon, thinking it would be safer. She spent the night at her mother’s residence in Wesley Chapel, around 15 minutes north of Tampa Bay.
She says she has experienced a lot of storms, but nothing like this.
“I was always more scared of the tail-end, and that’s there where the destruction really came. It was scary. A lot of banging, a lot of wind and a lot of noise. You can’t really be going out because you don’t know what is flying, and there was quite a bit actually,” Reeves says.
She received word this morning about her mobile home.
“My porch is pretty much gone, and the roof over my porch. The main unit is all clumped up, I could see the metal there. It’s just worrisome. Twenty minutes down the road, and only one person is answering the phone that was in the park.”
Describing the scene outside her mother’s home is much different than it would have been yesterday.
“Well, as far as we can see, the road, the driveway, and more than half the three-quarters of the yard are water. There are big branches. It’s still breezy, but it has calmed down, and I could see the water flowing in a certain direction, but it’s going to be a while, and no crews out here as of yet.”
She is one of the millions in the state currently without power.
“I was saying, when it was all over, we were going to have an awful lot of soup and Chef Boyardee because we have a lot in crackers and water. But I guess it’s time to clean the refrigerators, because we don’t have a generator, so it won’t be salvage.”
Earlier today, Reeves says they stood outside the home which is on around an acre of land, and just hollered out to each other to make sure the neighbours were also safe.
“I’m exhausted. I’m sure many are, but it’s just worrisome. Only one person answered that was in the park. I’m hoping FEMA can help me and anyone else. We can’t see the driveway. It’s a very long driveway, so we can’t even get out. It’s too risky to get out.”
She expects the clean-up is going to take awhile.
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