Day: October 12, 2024

As I reflect on the horror that was — and still is for many people — Hurricane Milton, I am both happy and a little guilty to report that our power is back on (at the Silversaw Apartments on the north side of S.R. 56, west of I-75), our complex seemingly suffered little to no structural damage, the traffic signals are working and many of the stores and restaurants have been able to reopen in our area.
 
But, believe me, I know this is not the case for a large number of our readers and the State of Florida in general. And, I once again feel powerless to help, other than maybe to donate money to disaster relief, which won’t necessarily benefit the local residents in need.

Jannah and I went to stay with her daughter in Port Saint Lucie — yes, the same Port Saint Lucie (and St. Lucie County) that took the brunt of the 126 tornado warnings and nearly 40 verified tornado touchdowns as Milton’s outer bands were first reaching the “Sunshine State” early on Thursday afternoon. One of those tornadoes, which touched down less than five miles from where we were hunkered down, tore the roof off the city’s Police Department and another that hit Ft. Pierce (only 12 miles from us) is responsible for the deaths of at least five people in one subdivision — the Spanish Lakes Country Club. 
 
Scary stuff, to be sure, but those near misses were the worst we dealt with from the storm and we got an email that the power had somehow already been restored at Silversaw on Thursday night. We definitely saw less rain and wind in Port Saint Lucie than pretty much anywhere other than Miami and other areas in the southeastern corner of the state.
 
My mom, who lives in downtown Sarasota, made the decision to stay in her high-rise apartment building, which did lose power but had a backup generator that kicked in and her hurricane windows held up just fine. Even so, she was alone with her cat in her apartment and said that the winds — which exceeded 100 mph upon Milton’s landfall in nearby Siesta Key (which already had been devastated by storm surge from Hurricane Helene) — never seemed to let up from what she could only describe as a high-speed train sound right outside those windows for more than six hours. I’ve seen comments on local Facebook community pages that tell a similar story about the conditions here for those who didn’t evacuate.
 
On our drive back yesterday, which included passing through the “war zone” that is now Ft. Pierce, we saw dozens of downed power lines, non-working traffic signals and tons of damage. We felt even more fortunate — but maybe also even more guilty — to have a place to return to that has electricity and running water with our lives pretty much able to resume back to “normal.”

 
But, I know that simply isn’t true for everyone who receives our publications. Photographer Charmaine George and freelance writers Celeste McLaughlin and Iris Vitelli still have no power and TECO (Tampa Electric Co.) has told its many thousands of customers that they “hope” all power will be restored by next Thursday. That would be almost an entire week with no electricity, which is horrible to think about until you consider those who lost their homes completely and whose lives are changed forever.  
 
We have seen the buckling of a portion of Curley Rd., the flooding of the Shoppes at New Tampa plaza (BBD Blvd. at S.R. 56), trees that fell on people’s houses and many more truly frightening things that have happened since Thursday night. 
 
And, the effects of Milton clearly haven’t left us yet entirely, either. Just today, the National Guard and other military and law enforcement personnel had to help evacuate the Enclave development on Wesley Chapel Blvd.(not to be confused with The Enclave subdivision of Meadow Pointe or The Enclave Apartments on S.R. 56) because of the flooding of the nearby Cypress Creek. Flooding continues to be an issue for a lot of our other readers, too, and many have structural damage to their homes and what could be long waits for insurance claims to be processed and paid, while also having to find temporary shelter.

 
In other words, just because you and I don’t have the same full-fledged disaster on our hands doesn’t mean your neighbors are all OK. I have seen some of the nastiest comments back and forth on local Facebook communities and have seen and heard of people being nasty to workers at Costco, local restaurants and especially, at local gas stations, many of which weren’t able to replenish their supplies until this morning. It’s obvious that many people do still have to fill gas cans because they do still need to run their generators because they still don’t have power. Please try to avoid getting gas right now if you already have more than half a tank, in order to let those who desperately need it now get it. We all hate waiting on lines for things, but we don’t need to hate or fight or threaten each other because we have to do so.
 
I am praying for a speedy recovery for everyone from this but sadly, I know that many have a lot of “bad road” ahead of them. Please email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com (mailto:ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com) if you have ideas about what those of us who are already recovering from Milton can do to help those who aren’t. Also feel free to send me a note about what you or someone you know are going through and please let me know if you want me to share that information with our readers, even if you want it to remain anonymous.