(WWJ) — Millions of people are without power in Florida after Hurricane Milton slammed into the Gulf Coast late Wednesday night.
The Category 3 storm made landfall in the area of Sarasota and Siesta Key. While Milton’s storm surge of 8-to-10 feet wasn’t as bad as forecasters had feared, the storm caused heavy damage to parts of the state.
Heavy winds of around 100 mph caused damage in Tampa, including shredding the dome roof of Tropicana Field, while Plant City — just inland from Tampa — saw extreme flooding, according to the Associated Press.
Many Michiganders who live or vacation in the area decided to ride the storm out, including Scott Phelps of Saugatuck in West Michigan. He told WWJ Newsradio 950’s Ryan Wrecker he and his wife had headed down to Sarasota to check on their condo in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall on Sept. 27.
After Helene, a restoration company got in right away to clean up the flood damage. Phelps spent much of this week preparing for what they anticipated was going to be much worse damage.
Phelps and some of their neighbors in Sarasota were required to evacuate ahead of Milton’s arrival, but got an Airbnb in a “hurricane-safe” home about five miles inland. There, they safely waited things out Wednesday night. When they woke up Thursday morning and went to check on their unit along the intercoastal.
“We were just back over there, and we had no water inside, a little bit of our mansard’s gone on the front, and our pontoon boat is sitting in the front yard,” Phelps said.
He said the boat had been tied to the pilings, which snapped when the dock collapsed and it floated up on shore over the seawall.
Photo credit Vicki Phelps Phelps said he used Flex Tape on the doors. While he said it did its job in helping keep things dry, it will be “almost impossible to get it off.”
“It could have been a whole lot worse, I think,” he said, noting they hope to come home to Michigan in the next few days.
On Wednesday WWJ spoke with Novi native Megan Engles, who explained why she chose not to leave western Florida ahead of the storm. On Thursday she provided an update live on air with Mike Campbell, saying she and her boyfriend hunkered down at a friend’s apartment.
She said the worst damage they've seen is the destroyed roof at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of MLB's Tampa Bay Rays. It was supposed to be used as a refuge for linemen and rescue workers.
Photo credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images “It was loud, it was windy, lots of rain. The rain was pretty constant most of the late evening and the winds definitely picked up,” she said. “We were trying to keep it pretty light and had music playing so we weren’t just focusing on the loudness that was happening.”
Many parts of Florida still had Storm Surge Warnings and shelter-in-place orders early Thursday as authorities assessed the damage.
Authorities on Thursday afternoon have said at least eight people were killed during the hurricane.
Local News
