Florida residents return home after Hurricane Milton

Kathleen William October 14, 2024

CNN
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When Vickie Ward returned Friday, there was little more than a pile of rubble from destroyed homes to her neighborhood of Grove City, Florida, after Hurricane Milton.

“We have stuff in our yard, I don't even know where it belongs because it's people's debris from the last Hurricane Helene that just never got picked up,” Ward said, describing the damage in her coastal town about an hour northwest Fort Myers.

Ward is among thousands of Sunshine State residents returning to their homes to assess the impact of Milton's destructive force. The hurricane made landfall earlier this week as a dangerous Category 3 storm, killing at least 17 people and destroying homes, roads and power lines.

Vickie Ward said her home in Grove City, Florida, was damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

In St. Petersburg, storm chaser Brandon Clement said he met several residents standing in front of their homes “that used to stand” because they were just a pile of rubble.

“It's not a pretty sight. It's truly a heartbreaking moment to see,” Clement said, adding that Milton was a “catastrophic hurricane that affected many people over a very large area.”

Angie Dooley, 20, and her father sought shelter Friday after their first-floor apartment in Daytona Beach was flooded.

“The water was up to my knees, so if you're sitting on the couch, up to your knees,” Dooley said. Most of her furniture, clothing and keepsakes, including her baby photos, were destroyed, she said.

Dooley and her 55-year-old father, Scott, fled the apartment early Thursday morning when the water began to rise. Since then, they have slept in their car and a hotel room, but they have not booked a room for Friday evening.

“I just have to take it day by day,” Scott Dooley said.

After Rina Tabak's Tampa home was destroyed and she had to evacuate by boat during Hurricane Helene, she believed her family could be safe at her mother-in-law's home in nearby northwest Hillsborough County.

But that home, which Tabak said was not under an evacuation order, was severely damaged during Milton. Parts of the home's roof collapsed or ended up in the backyard, she said.

Her family cannot live in either house and is staying in a hotel. But they know it will be months before they can return to one of their homes.

“I just want a place that is safe and easy to settle in. The dogs can settle in. Our daughter can calm down and go back to work. Have a sense of normalcy,” Tabak said.

“I'm done. I'm done for this year,” Tabak said of the Hurricanes.

Near Sarasota, Cheryl Bernatowicz had prepared her home for possible flooding, but never imagined the storm's strong winds would rip the roof off.

“It actually ripped the concrete right out of the ground – just like the posts for the carports, they were completely ripped out of the ground with the concrete – and the entire roof was just completely ripped off,” Bernatowicz told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday.

Her home in North Port, Florida, was damaged by storms several times and she had just paid off repairs for Hurricane Ian in 2022. Now Bernatowicz doesn't know if she wants to live in Florida anymore.

“To be honest, I don't want to… It's my fourth hurricane and four times I've been destroyed. It really leaves a bad taste in your mouth afterward,” she said.

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As some residents try to assess the damage, others were rescued from flooded homes by first responders on Friday or are being evacuated because of the looming threat of flooded rivers.

East of Tampa, in Valrico, Florida, Ralph Genito and his wife quickly packed as many items of clothing as they could into trash bags on Friday. Sheriff's deputies took her back to her home by airboat after her neighborhood was flooded by Hurricane Milton's storm surge and the overflow of the Alafia River.

As CNN previously reported, the river has risen about 15 feet since Wednesday night and passed major flood stage on Thursday.

“Surreal”: CNN goes inside a flooded house where the water level is still rising

“This area isn’t supposed to be like that, it’s not supposed to be like that. “We are supposedly the last street to be flooded,” Genito said.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister urged residents living near rivers and streams to evacuate Friday as river flooding is expected to worsen. “The water doesn’t sink; the water will only increase,” he told CNN.

Genito said the water started rising Thursday. Within hours, he said, the water was 3 feet deep and flooded his daughter's small house, which is next door to his house. At this point, the family rushed out, fearing they would be trapped. The interior of his home was still mostly untouched Friday morning, but Genito said they couldn't stay. The septic tank and generator are under water, he said.

“I feel for everyone who has gone through the same thing. I really do,” Ralph said through tears. “I never expected this to happen to me, no one expects it to happen to them – so you just get through it.”

CNN's Isabel Rosales and Mounira Elsamra contributed to this report.