'I don't have time to be scared': Kiwis in Florida flee 'monster' storm

Tune in to Midday Report at noon to hear the full interview.

A New Zealander forced to evacuate not once, but twice, to escape Hurricane Milton's fury says she is one of the lucky ones.

And another, hunkering down on Florida's eastern coast, said the "eye of the storm is going to go right over my house".

Milton, one of the biggest hurricanes ever to hit the region, was expected to make landfall later on Wednesday (NZ time). Its sheer size means the effects were already being felt in Florida, causing storm surges and tornado outbreaks.

Kiwi woman Erica Dill-Russell has lived in Tampa, Florida with her family - including two young children, aged five and seven - for nearly four years.

"We live in South Tampa, which is right by MacDill Air Force Base, which is right on the peninsula. And so Hurricane Milton, the current track, is slated to hit between Manatee County and Sarasota - and so that's just across the water from us.

"I couldn't tell you how many miles, but really, really, really, really, really close and enough to sort of raise some questions as to whether we're going home to a house that's currently intact or not."

The area she lived in was under mandatory evacuation, so they fled to a hotel in Saint Augustine - normally a three-hour drive, extended to six-and-a-half due to traffic.

Then emergency officials declared Saint Augustine should be evacuated too, so they hit the road for Savannah, Georgia, across state lines.

Dill-Russell told RNZ's Midday Report dealing with hurricanes was a part of life in Florida.

"When you choose to live in Florida, you kind of get used to it. We've lived there for about almost four years now… It's called hurricane season for a reason. However, this one's pretty serious compared to some of the other ones that we've been through that have either veered off path or we've just not been in town for."

She said a couple of nights in a hotel were preferable to putting their lives in danger by hunkering down. The storm surge from last month's Hurricane Helene damaged homes not far from theirs on the Florida coast.

"You prepare everything you can from the water by getting up as high as possible, and we're really lucky that we live in a two-storey house. So anything valuable, anything electrical, anything that could be lifted up was lifted at least sort of five feet off the ground or onto the second floor.

"And then basically, you're putting up storm shutters sandbagging if you think you're going to flood - but there's really only so much you can do from the flooding. If the water's getting in, the water's getting in and there's really nothing you can do about it, no matter how many types or sandbags you put in place.

"And then you just take any and all personal items that you'd be devastated to lose, because if you come back and there's been a storm surge or the wind has taken your roof off or something like that, you just have to have those things with you… And then you just lock up, leave and hope for the best, because there's really nothing you can do other than that."

Getting gone

The family managed to escape on Monday, but it took twice as long to get to their initial hotel in Saint Augustine, Florida because of the traffic. Luckily they had filled the car up the day before.

"And had we waited on that, we actually wouldn't have been able to leave. And I had colleagues who weren't quite so lucky and weren't able to leave until the gas stations were restocked, and a lot of them haven't been restocked. So that's really inhibiting movement.

"It's also really crazy to be driving along highways and to have people sort of careening down the shoulder beside you, which is really unusual in New Zealand. But in Florida they actually open those, and that's legal - driving down those shoulders to get everyone out as quickly as possible.

"And then you've just got the crazy driving, because there's crazy driving usually in Florida, but at the same time people are just really on edge and they want to get gone."

She said some people have stayed because they had animals, which many hotels did not allow, and others simply could not afford to.

"Half of Florida has picked up left and gone to hotels right now, so of course it's quite expensive to do that. I mean, this evacuation will probably be around the US$2000 (NZ$3300) mark quite easily for us as a family of four, and some people just don't have the financial means to do that, which is really devastating to have people that are actually in that position. It's really sad."

She was not sure how long it might be before they could go home - possibly weeks - or if they would even have a home to return to at all.

"If we're really lucky, we lose power for a couple of days, all the contents of our fridge and freezers are gone, but we're able to go home. If we're not so lucky, then it floods… and if we're really unlucky, then we lose our house and all the possessions that we have other than what's in our car, we really don't know."

'Surprise vacation'

WIth two young children, Erica said she was feeling "surreal and disconnected" more than afraid.

"I don't have time or the privilege to be scared right now. I have to make sure my kids are safe… And there are a lot of people that are way worse off than us right now.

"We're enormously privileged to be in the position that we are to have run away to Savannah and to be safe. My family is safe. I have most of the important things in my life. I'll be really sad if my bike is gone, but other than that, I mean, at the end of the day, we're safe and that's really all we've got right now."

On the bright side, the kids were having a "great time" courtesy of the "surprise vacation".

"We had lunch at a pirate restaurant, and all they know is we're having a really good time."

'Gut feeling'

New Zealander Matthew Gardner, currently based in Frostproof, Florida, had lived in the state for 15 years. He escaped to the east coast ahead of the mandatory evacuation order on a "gut feeling".

"I've been through a couple of hurricanes here but, this one just - yeah, something about it just said 'get out'. This was even before it became as big as it did, so I think it's best to listen to your gut," he told Morning Report.

"And some of those warnings… if they're talking about the loss of life, it doesn't get more dire or more serious than that."

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018959157/millions-in-florida-evacuate-ahead-of-hurricane-milton

He had everything he needed packed up as long ago as Sunday (local time).

"A few days beforehand I topped up my vehicle and got petrol for my generator and all of that, because I was originally looking to stay, but there were no queues. And even today I've gotten over to the east coast and it's not too bad here."

He said he knew a couple of "old-school locals" who had ridden out previous storms with minimal preparation boarding up their houses.

"When I saw them boarding their houses up - and they usually have never boarded their houses up - I was like, 'You know what? That's good enough for me.' When in doubt, watch the locals."

'Bigger than anything I've seen'

Milton went from barely hurricane-strength to Category 5 in less than a day. It had since weakened to a still very destructive Category 4, but doubled in size.

Gardner called Milton a "monster".

"It's bigger than anything I've seen… and this is going right across the top of my property up there. I actually looked it up earlier, and the eye of the storm is going to go right over my house. So I'm not sure if I'll be going back to the house, but that's okay…

"There's nothing, nothing you can do, you know? I've done all I can to make it secure, sandbagged, I went through my stuff and what I wanted to keep I put in storage; what I was prepared to lose, I secured as best as I could inside the house.

"It's like, okay, I might not come back to this, you know?"

He is now staying with friends in Delray Beach, where he used to work as a bartender, and trying to keep the storm out of his mind.

"I'm not even really watching the coverage. I mean, I check in every now and then, but there's no point in sitting there worrying about it at this point. As long as I know I've done everything I can, you know, to, to keep my property safe and keep myself safe…

"There's no point in being anxious about it and watching the media hype things up, you know?"