As gushing water from Hurricane Milton flooded their Florida apartment, Lidier Rodriguez and Sandra Escalona rushed upstairs to safety — a scene of danger and drama in a normally staid senior living facility.
Hours later, after the powerful storm hit Wednesday evening, they watched as the same emergency crews who rescued them at their residence — a series of two-story apartment buildings — helped other older people get out.
The complex is on a low-lying and now flooded street near Tampa Bay on Florida’s west coast. Police and firefighters went from building to building in boats on Thursday, helping people get to dry land.
“We lost everything,” said Rodriguez, a 54-year-old Cuban man who has been living in Florida for 20 years. “But at least we are alive. That is all we have left.”
Outside their homes, dozens of residents look confused and shellshocked — like they did not know what to do next.
They carried bags with the few belongings they were able to salvage, and in some cases their pet dogs and cats.