Former Hampton Roads residents now in Florida brace for Hurricane Milton

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — People who grew up in Hampton Roads and have since moved to Florida are facing a scary reality as Hurricane Milton barrels toward the Gulf Coast.

“It’s terror. It’s shock. People are crying. People are so sad,” said Lynne Eckerson, a Tampa resident from Williamsburg.

Eckerson and Logan Farrell, who’s from Virginia Beach but now lives in St. Petersburg, both hope they will still have a home to come back to after Hurricane Milton hits.

“I am concerned because this is the first major hurricane to come directly to Tampa in over 100 years,” Farrell said. “So a lot of houses, including my own, were built over 100 years ago. I don’t think the construction is ready. I don’t think the area is ready.”

Eckerson said Helene is still fresh in her mind, especially with friends who were affected.

“We just had Helene less than two weeks ago and good friends just got flooded,” Eckerson said. “Unbelievable. And the storm just missed us by 100 miles, so I had a bunch of shingles and some flashing and gutter issues. I still had the sandbags up from Helene, so I just left those up, not that it’s going to do any good if we get a 15-foot storm surge, but I did all I could do, really.”

Farrell said his neighbors are boarding up the windows, and he’s never seen a hurricane of this magnitude. As a power line worker, Farrell is expecting to work around the clock since Hurricane Helene just swept through the area.

“So right now, we’re on standby for this upcoming Hurricane Milton. But as of last week, we worked, you know, a dozen days straight, sixteen hour shifts, just trying to get everything back on as quickly as possible. And I was luckily released to go back to my normal job this past weekend. But with this upcoming storm, you know, we’re going to be right back at it,” said Farrell.

Farrell said he will not be evacuating, but will stay on the ground to help those who lose power after Milton hits.

“I’m just happy to help,” Farrell said. “I know some have it worse than others. I’ve made it through the last one, Hurricane Helene. But I know a lot of people — the storm surge itself just totally destroyed everything. “When a catastrophic storm hits like this, we’re all on standby. We’re all ready to help restore power and fix whatever we can.”

Eckerson encourages those who can to donate to local causes to help those in need. And Farrell just hopes those who lose power can stay safe until line workers finish their job.

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