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Hurricane Milton unleashes fury as Florida residents describe its wrath
Residents of St. Petersburg and Orlando talk to FOX 29 and describe the conditions as Hurricane Milton makes landfall.
PHILADELPHIA - A number of Florida residents were riding out Hurricane Milton, despite its wrath.
"It’s really blowing up right now. It’s blowing toward the beach," Marlene Simmens said.
She was showing the drenching rain and whipping winds outside the window of her sister’s condo on Boca Ceiga Bay, in St. Petersburg. "I just have to pray that everyone is safe. That's the most important thing.," she said.
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Marlene, formerly of the Philadelphia area, lives two buildings over from her sister, but thought it was safer to ride out the storm together.
"First of all, I have nowhere to go," Marlene explained. "I was in a condo by myself for 16 years, since my husband passed. I’ve never evacuated. Now, Helene was pretty bad, but we got through."
Just outside Orlando, the winds picked up and rain was torrential. Josh Cotton said, "The biggest concern is the tornadoes. Tornadoes. It’s the most concerning. Right now, we’ve had multiple sightings in Florida."
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Josh and his neighbor, Maria Degnan, live in Winter Garden. They are not under a mandatory evacuation order, but they prepared for Milton’s impact.
Degnan stated, "We are worried about losing power. We stocked up and loaded the freezer with ice, so if we lose power, our food will last. Filled the bathtub with water, so we have water to flush the toilet if we lose water."
They also have a little trick – they put pool noodles inside the vents on top of the roof to keep water from running into the attic. Josh said, "The winds blow at 120 miles per hour and the rain blows sideways. It’ll go through anything to get into the house. This is something neighbors do every time we have a big storm. We all just work together."
Maria added, "You just hope for the best."
Lots of folks are hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.