Western New Yorker shares story of riding out both Hurricane Helene, Milton

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - One Western New Yorker shares her story of riding out both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton with her husband at their home near the Florida Gulf Coast.

Leigh Fuller lives in Bradenton, Fla. during the colder months, while also spending time during the warmer months at her home in Cattaraugus County. Despite the storm surges and spending some time in the eye wall of Milton, she and her husband's home remains mostly unscathed.

"We were very lucky, because we live in an older, block home. Your block homes are your sturdy built Florida homes. I spent probably six consecutive days at a friend's house, who lost everything, and they were in a low lying area," said Fuller in an interview with WBEN. "They evacuated, but what they came back to, the high surge waters just destroyed everything they had."

Because their home was in a no-flood zone, Fuller and her husband didn't evacuate for Helene. However, even if they wanted to leave before Milton made landfall, they weren't going to be able to go far.

"The challenge was the gas. There was no gas to be found in any of the local gas stations, and the main arteries to get out of the area were clogged," Fuller stated.

Fuller says Florida recently approved contractors to go into the heavily hit areas to start clearing out the larger debris, but clean up the effort is mostly up to the residents.

"I was helping another elderly couple from Western New York, actually, Chautauqua Lake area, and they have a place in Holmes Beach, which is our close barrier island here on Anna Maria Island. They're still up North, and they really had no one to check on their place, so I volunteered to and it was just a mess. I can't even describe it," Fuller said.