As someone born and raised in Washington state, I was unfamiliar with all things “hurricane.” I mean I’ve seen the news about hurricanes and how destructive they can be but actually living through one, that’s a different story. On October 9th, 2024, hurricane Milton had Tampa in its sights. Being located in a suburb outside downtown Tampa we wouldn’t see the worst of the impact, but we would still get hit. Leading up to the 9th, people had purchased all of the generators from the big name stores in the area. There was no water left on the shelves at grocery stores. We were told to gas up before the storm, yet nearly all gas pumps had been taped off as they were completely empty. Many people in my neighborhood were boarding up windows with plywood. At one point, our community Facebook page became a so-called help desk for all things hurricane in which people offered or reached out for help, extended/swapped extra preparatory items, and tracked the storm. We opted to use the plywood we did have and wedge it up against the outside of our sliding glass doors. Stacking furniture on the inside of our door openings to act as a barrier in case of projectiles. We also placed plastic water tubes which are similar to sandbags at the edge of all door openings to prevent possible water infiltration. As the storm approached, we scrambled to prioritize the necessary preparations and were content with playing the game of chance that if flying debris did come toward a window, it would be one which had built in shutters on it and not an unprotected one. The sheer amount of time it takes to clear the back patio and balcony of all furniture, protect your property, pack an emergency bag with clothes and medications, plan your emergency shelter, find your evacuation route, and all of the must do’s above makes it difficult for anyone to be “completely prepared” before the storm hits.
Late in the evening of October 9th, we are at home as we start to feel the outer bands of Milton approaching. There has been near constant rain, in an attempt to avoid flooding we drain our pool down about a foot. At this point, we begin to receive emergency alerts to our phones about flash flooding and catastrophic wind speeds. Our area begins to receive winds in excess of 70-80 mph. We hear the so called “hurricane whistle” which shrieks during the worst gusts. It’s loud as it plows into the front door which has been locked and barricaded to avoid busting open. To avoid strain on the electrical circuit and appliances we choose to turn off the power as clearly the power will soon go out. Now, sitting in darkness we anxiously wait to sleep in case there could be catastrophic damage to the house and us. As we sit talking, our eyes are drawn toward an extremely bright blue light radiating from the sky. The light remains for a couple seconds until a popping sound is heard and immediately the entire street is without power. We opt to remain in a place with no windows near us and are prepared to take shelter if necessary. Thankfully, the storm passes with no damage, and we can finally sleep.
The morning after the storm, we awaken to debris blocking nearly all roadways. We find ourselves blocked into our own community. By the afternoon/evening a path is cleared which provides at least enough room on the roads to exit the subdivision and enter a main road. Main roads were another problem. Many roads were completely obstructed by fallen trees or power poles and their cables. The flooding was intense! I witnessed roads completely submerged in water; houses that had standing water 4-5 ft high. The craziest realization for me was that I found the aftermath of the hurricane to be worse than the actual landfall itself. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was like the wild wild west. Let me sum up my day of driving two days after hurricane Milton hit. As I leave my community, the surge has caused the front entrance and the connecting road to become completely submerged by feet of water. To my left I can make out a sign which says, “Road Closed: Road Under Water.” To my right, down the street at the closest intersection there are two police officers preventing traffic from coming our way. I turned around and exited the back entrance. I was then prompted to take many right left right turns because roads are blocked by either debris or power companies attempting to restore. A row of cars driving down a road and one by one performing a u-turn to head back and try another street became déjà vu. All of the stop lights are either completely out or flashing yellow or red. Driving through lights was pretty sketchy because you’d think oh it becomes a four-way stop, but when you have big intersections with lots of lanes things get crazy. The worst part was that many people did not follow the stop and go when it’s your turn, rather you’d have 2-5 cars all go when the one in front went which is causing cars to get lodged in the intersection. Fast forward to me driving past a gas station. There are cars lined up nearly a quarter of a mile back waiting to gas up. Since most of the gas stations here are on a corner with a stop light, you’d have cars coming out 2 or even 3 lanes wide with their blinker on waiting to join the line for gas. This led people who were turning right to drive around the lane waiting for gas and into oncoming traffic. So, intersections quickly became jammed, leading people to become impatient and drive erratically. I even passed a couple of roads which for whatever reason the power outage had tripped the railroad crossings. I witnessed people driving through the railroad crossing while it was blinking red with the gates down because it never went up. Scary knowing a train obviously will come at some point. Finally, coming home at night, all of the streetlights and home lights are out. We’re talking pitch darkness when you could come up on a huge log in the road or worse yet the road being underwater. That is probably the closest I’ve driven with my head to the windshield in a long time. All in all, the aftermath was crazy. I’m blessed that my family and I along with our property are safe. Not everyone can say that sadly. And to think, we weren’t even directly hit by Milton or it could have been even more catastrophic. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this article! I wrote it to give those unfamiliar with hurricanes my personal experience and an idea of what enduring a hurricane entails. Thank you for reading!
