Hurricane Milton

 So my plans were to share about our Hurricane Milton experience but.....my son and daughter in love are on an Alaskan cruise and tonight are in the passage way between Vancouver BC and Ketchikan Alaska.  Thankfully my son just called and said the captain has reassured them that they are safe and will stay in deep waters until the danger is passed.....I still want them to sleep in their life jackets!  

Natural disasters are so hard to deal with and it seems like there have been so many that have affected the world and my world in the last few years.  Living in Florida we know all about hurricanes.  I have NO idea how many hurricanes I've lived through at this point but Hurricane Milton was rough

If you've never experienced a hurricane, it's basically like being stalked by a turtle.  You know it's coming but things change sometimes hourly.  2004 was a year etched into my memory—a year of relentless storms. We faced not just one, but three direct hits from hurricanes. On top of that, we had to make an unforgettable journey: driving through a hurricane to get to an important doctor’s appointment in Miami.

The first storm, Hurricane Charley, was predicted to be a monster. All the reports warned it would come straight up Tampa Bay and deliver a devastating blow to Tampa. We prepared for the worst.  When the alert came, we packed what we could and decided to stay with my brother-in-law for safety. Sam was a newborn then, and making sure he had everything he needed was my top priority. I ran to the store for extra medication, hoping I had time.

By the time I returned, the forecast had shifted dramatically. Instead of slamming Tampa, Charley veered south and hit the Arcadia area. While we experienced heavy rain and fierce winds, the catastrophic damage we’d braced for never came.

Little did we know—this was just the beginning. We would face two more hurricanes and have to drive to Miami for an eye emergency while they prepared for a direct hit of a hurricane 4 Ivan.  Thankfully it did not hit Miami as predicated.  

So we've been through it!  When we first started hearing about Milton, we were concerned, but not overly worried. Our older boys decided to stay at their homes but planned to come to our house if they lost electricity since we had a generator. Before the storm hit, they came over and helped us prepare the yard and secure the house. Honestly, we didn’t expect much.

Still, I was nervous—it would just be my husband, myself, and the little ones, Sam and Sarah.

When the storm began, everything seemed manageable. Our yard was dry; there was no water in sight. But as night fell, the situation changed drastically. By midnight, water was lapping against our front porch and the south side of the house.

Then came a heart-pounding moment: we had to rescue our chickens during the worst of the storm, opening their cages to give them a fighting chance to escape if they needed to.

By 2 a.m., the water had reached our house. Waves—actual waves—rolled toward us. We still had electricity thanks to the generator, but that didn’t calm the dread. At one point, we laid out sheets, planning to wrap Sam and Sarah so we could pull them up into the attic if things got worse.

Thankfully, around 3 a.m., the water stopped rising, and the rain eased. We collapsed into bed around 4 a.m., exhausted.

Morning brought a new shock: our neighborhood was submerged. We couldn’t leave for 3 or 4 days. Cell service was spotty. Our sons tried to reach us but couldn’t get through the flooded roads. It was a sobering experience—a reminder of nature’s power.

We were left with damage to our roof, our fence, and our front porch. But many people in our town were much more affected than we wee!

Most of these pictures were about 2 days after the hurricane!  They are a bit mixed up with time frame

I literally put lawn chairs in the chicken pen so they could get out as the water was so high.  T

After the water receded we found our fence was literally pull apart!

my son took this from town lol  Jon and Sam love Taco Bell

our road

Literally the side of the house with standing water.  You can see the water line

outside Sam's window

outside Sarah's window

church

!  

the river bridge

Alot of what looks like grass is leaves from the trees. the WAter was still up to the house!

you can see the water line on the gas tank

About a week after the hurricane my son's job sent a trailer full of supplies to our town.  Our church worked with another church to distribute it all  

my friend Christy and I took supplies to people and this is a picture of us STUCK in the mud on my road!!!

We were still smiling and a "good ole boy"  pulled us out!

 I am trying to post videos but it's not working.

After almost a year our home and church still have damage.  We are dealing with flood and regular insurance on our house and church.  I think we will be getting payment from the flood insurance soon but the roof is another matter.  We are all hoping for no hurricanes this year!