As Danny Pownall appeared by means of the piles of particles on the road in entrance of one among his rental properties in Redington Shores, Florida, he identified suitcases, beds and even a exercise ball.
“Their lives simply bought flipped the wrong way up, actually, and dumped on the road,” he mentioned of residents nonetheless recovering from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 30 after which reduce a path of destruction and demise up by means of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Pownall advised ABC Information that Helene destroyed his dwelling in addition to a few of his rental properties. As a line of dump vehicles waited to choose up the piles of particles left by Helene, Pownall and different residents within the Tampa metropolitan space are bracing for Hurricane Milton, which the police chief of Tampa described as “the storm of the century.”
Susana Ortiz fills out sand luggage on the seaside on the Davis Islands Yacht Basin as she prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, Oct. 8, 2024, in Tampa, Fla.
Julio Cortez/AP
“We do not know what this storm goes to do,” mentioned Pownall, surveying the sagging second-floor terrace of one among his properties nonetheless standing. “That may very well be a one-two punch to take out this property.”
As of Tuesday, Milton was a Class 4 hurricane swirling within the Gulf of Mexico about 500 miles south-by-southwest of Tampa. It’s anticipated to make landfall round 11 p.m. Wednesday between St. Petersburg and Sarasota, probably as a Class 3 hurricane, officers mentioned.
Freeway signage publicizes the approaching arrival of Hurricane Milton and the evacuations zones on Oct. 8, 2024, in Port Richey, Fla.
Mike Carlson/AP
From Treasure Island close to St. Petersburg to Sanibel Island close to Fort Miles, officers are getting ready for an emergency on prime of the emergency left by Helene and issuing obligatory evacuations.
Florida officers warn that Milton is stacking as much as be a monster, forecasting a 10-to-15-foot storm surge, practically twice as excessive as what transpired within the space throughout Helene.
“I do know that our residents, our workers, everybody is completely, purely exhausted from the restoration effort for Hurricane Helene, however we do want to start out getting ready for an additional potential severe hit from one other hurricane,” Treasure Island Mayor Tyler Payne mentioned in a video message to his neighborhood on Monday. “And you are still making an attempt to get well from that, and now we’ve to undergo it yet again. However it’s completely important that you simply obey the evacuation orders when they’re issued and actually shield your self at this level.”
Sarah Steslicki advised ABC Information on Tuesday that she has endured greater than twenty years of hurricanes since constructing her home in Belleair Seaside close to Tampa, however mentioned she is going to determine on the final minute whether or not to evacuate to increased floor.
“We’re nonetheless staying put. The storm has been delayed. It is slowed down a bit. We wish to ensure that we all know the trail of the storm. Is it safer to remain at dwelling or are we going to go away?” mentioned Steslicki, including that she lives on excessive floor and that her storage bought about 2 inches of water through the 8-foot storm surge attributable to Helene.
The final time a number of hurricanes hit Florida in such a brief interval was in 2004, when hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pummeled the state in simply six weeks.
Florida’s historical past of back-to-back hurricanes
ABC Information Picture Illustration
“It was chaotic. They have been unfold out like per week aside,” Steslicki mentioned of surviving the quadruple hit in 2004. “As quickly as we would put our terrace furnishings out, we would must deliver all of it again in.”
Florida’s historical past of back-to-back hurricanes
NOAA, Nationwide Hurricane Middle and Central Pacific Hurricane Middle, Climate
Milton is lining up for a direct hit on the Tampa metro space, which might be the primary since 1921. Within the time that has handed, the inhabitants of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties has grown 20 occasions over, now dwelling to 2.5 million individuals.
“We constructed our home new about 20 years in the past. So we all know the development. It is concrete block,” Steslicki mentioned. “We would somewhat be in a protected setting and perhaps be out of energy and water than to be in jeopardy in a construction that is not sound.”
Making issues worse, Steslicki mentioned she and her household plan to journey to California on Saturday for her daughter’s marriage ceremony.
A drone picture of contractors placing plywood over home windows on the El Encanto Constructing within the Ybor Metropolis part of Tampa forward of Hurricane Milton’s anticipated landfall in the course of this week on Oct. 8, 2024 in Florida.
Bryan R. Smith/AFP through Getty Photos
“It is particularly irritating for us. If there’s any form of injury, we’re not going to cancel our daughter’s marriage ceremony,” Steslicki mentioned.
Kevin Doyle, the co-owner of the Celtic Public Home in Punta Gorda, close to Fort Myers, mentioned he was taking no possibilities after staying put throughout Hurricane Helene. He advised ABC Information on Tuesday and that he’s evacuating south to Coral Gables on the east coast of southern Florida close to Miami.
Doyle additionally survived the 2004 barrage of hurricanes. He mentioned his pub and far of his city have been destroyed by Hurricane Charley, which prompted $16 billion in injury and, based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, killed 18 individuals. Doyle spent seven years rebuilding his enterprise solely to see it broken once more by Hurricane Helene.
Salvage employees take away particles from Hurricane Helene flooding alongside the Gulf of Mexico earlier than Milton arrives, Clearwater Seaside, Fla., Oct. 7, 2024.
Chris O’Meara/AP
“It was treacherous; the worst factor to occur,” Doyle mentioned of using out Helene at dwelling.
Doyle mentioned Helene flooded his pub with as much as 42 inches of water and broken the within of the enterprise. He mentioned his two vehicles have been additionally destroyed by the flooding.
Doyle mentioned he completed putting in new drywall in his enterprise “in file time” as officers started issuing warnings of Milton. He mentioned he is erected a 4-foot-high wall of sandbags round his pub hoping it’s going to shield it.
“I am simply hoping it is not as excessive as Helene,” he mentioned.
