Hurricane Milton Aftermath — Of Tornado Near Misses & What You’re Dealing With Here

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.

No Named Storms Since Debby, But Aug. 2024 Was Still One Of The Wettest Ever! 

While I was working on the stories for this issue, I needed to make multiple trips to The Grill at Morris Bridge and Johnny C’s Italian Eatery on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd., and I discovered what appeared to be a new feature on my iPhone’s “Maps” app. For the first time that I can remember, the Maps app gave me alternative routes to take from our Silversaw Apartments to these restaurants in order to “Avoid Flood Warning.” 

Wait, what? I know we’ve had a super-rainy last several weeks (more on this below), but I don’t even remember being cautioned to “Avoid a Flood Warning” even after some of our hurricanes hit — and the only major named storm to hit Florida, which wasn’t even that bad here, was Hurricane Debby, which came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane near Steinhatchee, FL — more than 150 miles north of here — and hit our area with really only mild tropical storm-force winds on Aug. 5. 

Since then, yes there have been many days with heavy rains and I saw lots of reports of major flooding in South Tampa, but very few major roads here that got flooded — and I have done a lot of local driving over the past several weeks and haven’t seen any such flooding. 

Of course, I also haven’t driven the roads through New Tampa’s communities, staying mostly on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., Cross Creek Blvd., Morris Bridge Rd. (which I would think would be the most likely to flood) and County Line Rd., but those were the precise streets my iPhone Maps app was telling me to avoid. 

I was most stunned when the app’s “Suggested Route” to The Grill a couple of days before our press time told me to take I-75 north from the S.R. 56 exit (where I live) and take S.R. 54 east to Morris Bridge Rd. before turning south towards Cross Creek Blvd. That trip, however, would have taken me 35 minutes to drive, rather than the 21 minutes the fastest route offered to me (I-75 south to the BBD exit, north on BBD to Cross Creek Blvd. and east towards Morris Bridge) would take. 

And, these types of go-way-out-of-my-way routes have been offered to me pretty much every day for the past two weeks or so. Of course, I always took the fastest routes instead — and never saw a single flooded road! 

So, what’s going on? Has my Maps app suddenly taken up drinking? 

I honestly have no idea, but I thought I would at least attempt to look into it and ask you, our faithful readers, whether or not you’ve been dealing with flooding in or around your New Tampa communities. Here’s what I found: 

Near-Record Rainfall 

Spectrum Bay News 9 posted a chart on its website that said that Tampa had experienced its second or third highest rainfall total ever in August 2024, with 17.78 inches of rain, or less than an inch less than the city’s all-time record August rainfall of 18.59” set back in 1949. The article that accompanied the chart said that “Average rainfall in a typical August is around 8 to 9 inches. There were some unofficial observations with up to 29 inches during August!” 

Of course, the official rainfall numbers are taken at Tampa International Airport, more than 20 miles from the southern tip of New Tampa in Tampa Palms, but still, how much different could the rainfall here really have been and how does it explain my Maps app trying to get me to drive miles out of my way in order to “Avoid Flood Warnings” every single day? 

As someone who hasn’t had to drive young kids to school for a couple of decades, I can only imagine how difficult it’s been driving to and from school with your kids in this kind of weather, especially with all of the distracted drivers there are on the roads these days. 

In other words, please take extra care out there, whether you have kids or not, and no matter where you are heading. And please, don’t try to zip your way through if you do believe there’s a lot of standing water. It’s never happened to me, but I have known plenty of people who have flooded their engines and stranded their vehicles doing that. 

But, based on what I’ve seen to date, please take these “Avoids Flood Warnings” messages on whatever app you’re using with a grain of salt. 

It just kind of feels like the boy who cried “wolf” to me. If I keep never having to deal with flooding when I’m being warned every day, what will happen the one time I don’t heed the warning when I should have? 

And, just because we haven’t really had to deal with a major storm during this year’s hurricane season yet, please don’t assume that our area is out of the woods when it comes to major storms. The next few weeks represent the peak of the season, so keep those flashlights and portable generators at the ready, keep stocked up on potable water and non-perishable food and do everything else you can to keep your family safe. 

I am genuinely interested to hear from any of you who have already dealt with flooding in your New Tampa neighborhood the past few weeks. If you have, you can either email me at ads@ntneighborhoodnews.com or send me a message on our “Neighborhood News” Facebook page! I will run any messages I get — whether you’ve experienced flooding or not, in our next issue.