Former 7NEWS reporter gives update from Fort Myers ahead of Hurricane Milton

Fort Myers, Fla. (WTRF) – One of our former reporters–Dave Elias–now lives and works in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Florida near where Hurricane Milton is predicted to make landfall.

Hurricane Milton is a Category 5 right now, but it is expected to weaken to a Category 3 by landfall.

Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

Dave says what he’s seeing right now is devastation from previous hurricanes Ian and Helene and rising waters.

“You know, that’s the thing in this business. We have no choice but to ride it out. If I wasn’t a television news reporter, I would be leaving. I’m not in a flood zone, but I just wouldn’t care to live through that again. And here I am, 36 years in the business. I’ve covered blizzards, I’ve covered a lot of weather forecasts, but I’ve had it up to here with hurricanes already.”

Dave Elias, Former 7News Reporter

He says that mandatory evacuations are underway across the central Florida area.

With Milton tracking across Florida and out to the Atlantic, it’s unlikely this system causes major headaches for the Ohio Valley.

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