ATLANTA – When the sun rose Thursday morning, it left devastation in its wake Hurricane Milton in Florida became apparent, especially for a Massachusetts resident who managed to evacuate before disaster struck.
“It’s Bad”
“There’s about 5 to 6 feet of water everywhere,” said Evan Conway, who grew up in Weymouth and now lives in Tampa. “I’ve seen pictures of trees that are hundreds of years old that have completely fallen on houses, and that’s bad.”
Conway and his 9-month-old puppy found refuge in Atlanta, leaving behind a home that had just been damaged Hurricane Helene. He hopes to return home on Thursday, if there is even a house to return to.
“It’s probably completely underwater,” Conway told WBZ-TV.
Help from the Salvation Army
Meanwhile, several Massachusetts aid groups, including the Salvation Armywill travel to disaster areas on Thursday to provide relief and resources. Many of them have been south since Hurricane Helene and had no idea their journey would be extended by an even bigger hurricane.
Pam Houghton of Newburyport and Cindy Kennedy of Athol are two of the volunteers. They are waiting in Georgia for additional crews from the Salvation Army before moving further south.
“Every Salvation Army truck that goes out has about a thousand meals for lunch, they have a thousand meals for dinner. And we come back with empty trucks,” Houghton told WBZ.
Power outages due to Hurricane Milton
Barry Tupper of the Northeast Public Power Association weathered the storm in Orlando.
“It was pretty loud, pretty windy, about three, four hours, and I think that’s when it really broke through,” he said.
With a crew of nearly 60 people, Tupper hopes to restore power to about 100,000 customers in Orlando.
“Orlando has some areas where you have to climb and the guys can’t use the box trucks, they have to use their hooks, so that puts a lot of pressure on them, it’s a lot more work to do that,” Tupper told WBZ.
But if there is one bright spot, it is the way people come together to help each other in times of need.
“The reason they’re doing this is because they want to help people and turn on the power,” Tupper said.
“At the end of the day, if you’re human, you want to help other people,” Conway said.
Penny Kmitt
