BUFFALO N.Y. (WIVB) — About a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region, residents in the Sunshine State are bracing for another major impact.
As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida’s west coast, WIVB News 4 spoke with Western New York natives who are fleeing their Florida homes before it hits.
Martha and Dan Meegan’s home in Gulfport, Florida, is under a mandatory evacuation.
“They tell us in Florida to hide from the wind, run from the water,” Martha said.
After dealing with Hurricane Helene last week, the couple said they did not want to stick around for the next storm.
“I’ll tell you, it was very hard for me to leave, but I know we’re doing the right thing,” she said.
Martha and Dan live on the ninth floor of a building in a retirement community. Helene caused a major storm surge last week and carried water over the sea wall, which flooded their building’s first floor and knocked the power out for a week.
Milton is now expected to cause even more damage.