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Hurricane Milton is moving away from Florida, leaving a trail of destruction and debris in its wake, and now comes the damage assessment.
Fortunately, it was “not the worst-case scenario,” according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, though photos and video captured early Thursday as the sun came up show widespread damage to many parts of the state due to high winds, tornadoes, flooding and driving rain.
Hundreds of thousands of Floridians were forced to flee their homes and head for higher or safer ground this week as forecasters predicted mass devastation and a powerful storm surge, particularly in coastal areas.
Officials had issued dire warnings to flee or face grim odds of survival.
But some Floridians decided to stay, citing a range of reasons from newborn babies and precious livestock, to fuel shortages and gridlocked roads.
As the storm was preparing to make landfall in the Sunshine State, Global News took a look at five people who were undergoing preparations to ride out the hurricane. Here’s an update on how they’re faring after the storm.
The mom with a baby
On Wednesday, one woman with a six-month-old infant documented her family’s storm preparations on TikTok, explaining that they would hunker down at home instead of taking their baby to an evacuation centre.
“I would be more comfortable in my own home,” she told the camera, sharing that they did consider leaving but were deterred when visits to multiple sold-out gas stations proved there was no gas to put in their car.
On Thursday, she posted a follow-up video surveying the damage around her home, which was fairly minimal — a few stray palm tree leaves and a crooked fence.
“We’re all safe, everyone’s alive, we have power,” she said, appearing relieved.
