Most left when told to. But some chose to stay, even as officials warned that Hurricane Milton would turn their homes into coffins.
Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where millions of people were urged to stay out of harm’s way, towns were largely deserted Wednesday afternoon as time expired for evacuations. Those who remained were advised to take shelter as best they could. Others who fled spoke of their fear of where they might return when the storm passed.
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“I’m afraid I won’t have a house anymore, that it will just be demolished. I’m afraid my island will sink into the water,” said Amanda Champ, who evacuated to Alabama Monday with her husband, children and two dogs from their home on Anna Maria Island, just north of Sarasota.
“I’m afraid that everyone’s belongings will be floating around, that there will just be no way to even get back there. I don’t know what to expect.”
Holmes Beach Police Chief William Tokajer told islanders who planned to stay to write their names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers on their limbs with Sharpies to help identify their bodies after the storm.
His alarming words resonated with Champ and the rest of Anna Maria’s population of about 1,000, reinforcing a message they had been hearing for days. Tokajer said Wednesday he did not believe any residents were left behind.
“I strongly believe that things are just things, and that people, the memories, your friends and family, that’s what matters, and how you live,” says Champ, known as the coconut woman on the island Anna Maria. for her business that sells coconuts to tourists and locals.
“As we were packing to leave, my nine-year-old son said, ‘Mom, I don’t need anything.’ He didn’t want to take anything, he just brought clothes. He says, ‘There are people who need things more than I do’.”
Champ and her family moved into an apartment in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where she prepared her coconut stand for a prearranged shrimp festival on Wednesday. It was a welcome distraction from the hurricane anxiety, she said.
The messages from local authorities, she said, were completely clear. “They went around telling people to leave,” she said. “We’re just praying that everyone listens and is evacuated.”
In Venice, about 40 miles south, Sherry Hall and her family decided to stay in their home, several blocks from the ocean, despite many of their neighbors leaving amid warnings of a storm surge up to 15 feet high. Her husband, Tommy, prepared the property with shutters and sandbags, and she said they had generators, portable air conditioning units and enough water and food to be self-sufficient.
The couple, along with their 18-year-old son Devin, didn’t want to get caught in heavy traffic on evacuation routes or drive for hours looking for hotels. But she said she was still worried and had heard Gulf waves crashing onto the beach during previous storms.
“I’m not saying I’m not worried. I don’t worry about me or my husband, but when you have children you worry about them,” she said. “As far as life-threatening issues and such, we have good faith in the Lord, and we hope and pray for everyone, not just us. Items can be replaced, but life isn’t about things, it’s about people and keeping people safe.”
Hall, a hospital administration worker, said that while some neighbors left, many others had stayed. However, they had all taken the authorities’ warnings into account in their decisions, she said.
“The message of the storm has been well spread. They tell you that at some point they can’t come and save you. They tell people, if you decide to stay, it’s basically at your own risk and for your life,” she said.
“They also tell you that it may take a while for the storm to pass and we don’t know when we will reach you. They let the public know. Do I think a lot of people listened this time? Yeah, I think a lot of people left. And then there are those who try to do the best they can.”
Christine Bottger, general manager of the Clearwater Beach Holiday Inn, was another who chose to stay. “We’re in a pretty safe area and in a pretty healthy home, and honestly by the time I could have left we would have been stuck without a hotel room, and then maybe stuck on a highway, not where I want to go. being in the middle of a storm,” she said.
She said the waterfront hotel suffered significant damage and was flooded by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, and contractors only started measuring repairs on Monday.
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Now Bottger fears any wind damage from Milton will cause even more delays, though she said the hotel staff of about 120 people, which she calls a family, is eager to help with the cleanup.
She said even if the hotel cannot reopen to guests, the rooms could house first responders and essential workers to help speed the city’s recovery.
“We can bring the energy companies in and give them a clean room with a comfortable bed and help get the infrastructure that’s needed back up and running,” she said. “It helps everyone. There is 60 cm of sand in the pool and the restaurant in Helene has been destroyed, but they will not use it.”
Like Champ and Hall, Bottger said local officials’ warnings to those needing to evacuate were clear and to the point, and that residents were more likely to listen to them than more general messages from state or federal authorities.
“The city manager and police chief were driving around the beach yesterday afternoon checking everything out before the bridges to the barrier islands were closed,” she said.
“They felt like most people heeded the warning. This time, people noticed the intensity and started taking it seriously when they saw the talk of 190mph winds. It opened their eyes.”
