Most left when they were told to. But some chose to stay, even though officials warned Hurricane Milton would turn their homes into coffins.
Along Florida’s Gulf coast, where millions of people were urged to get out of harm’s way, cities were largely deserted on Wednesday afternoon as time ran out to evacuate. Those who remained were advised to shelter in place as best they could. Others who fled spoke of their dread at what, if anything, they would return to once the storm had passed.
“I’m fearful that I’m not going to have a house, that it’s going to just be demolished. I’m fearful that my island is going to sink into the water,” said Amanda Champ, who evacuated with her husband, children and two dogs to Alabama on Monday from their home on Anna Maria island, just north of Sarasota.
“I’m fearful that everybody’s belongings are going to be floating around, that there’s just not going to be a way to even get back there. I don’t know what to expect.”
William Tokajer, police chief of Holmes Beach, told islanders who planned to stay to write their names, dates of birth and social security numbers on their limbs with Sharpies to help identify their bodies after the storm.
His alarming words resonated with Champ, and the rest of Anna Maria’s population of about 1,000, reinforcing a message they had been hearing for days. Tokajer said Wednesday that he didn’t believe any residents stayed behind.
“I am a strong believer that things are just things, and that people, the memories, your friends and family, that’s what matters, and how you live your life,” said Champ, who is known as the coconut lady on Anna Maria island for her business selling coconuts to tourists and locals.
“When we were packing to leave my nine-year-old son said ‘Mom, I don’t need anything’. He didn’t want to take anything, he just brought clothes. He’s like, ‘There’s people that need stuff more than me’.”
Champ and her family relocated to a condo in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where she spent Wednesday preparing her coconut stall for a prearranged shrimp festival. It was a welcome distraction from hurricane anxiety, she said.
Messaging from local authorities, she said, had been perfectly clear. “They were going around telling people to leave,” she said. “We just pray that everyone listened and evacuated.”
In Venice, about 40 miles to the south, Sherry Hall and her family decided to stay in their house several blocks from the ocean, despite many of their neighbors leaving amid warnings of a storm surge up to 15ft. Her husband, Tommy, prepared the property with shutters and sandbags, and she said they had generators, portable air conditioning units, and plenty of water and food to be self-sufficient.
The couple, with their 18-year-old son Devin, did not want get tangled in heavy traffic on evacuation routes, or drive hours searching for hotels. But she said she was still apprehensive, and had heard Gulf waves crashing on the beach during previous storms.
“I’m not saying that I’m not worried. I’m not worried about me or my husband, but when you have children you worry about them,” she said. “As far as life-threatening and all that, we have good faith in the Lord, and we hope and pray for everyone, not just us. Items can be replaced but life isn’t about things, it’s about people and keeping people safe.”
Hall, a hospital administration worker, said although some neighbors left, many others had remained. All, however, had made their decisions aware of authorities’ warnings, she said.
“Word of the storm has got out nicely. They share with you that at a certain point they cannot come and rescue you, they’re telling people, you know, if you decide to stay, that’s on your own risk and on your life, basically,” she said.
“They also tell you it might be a while until the storm’s over and we don’t know when we’re going to get to you. They let the public know. Do I think a lot of people listened this time? Yeah, I think a lot of people have left. And then there are the ones that try to just hunker down as best as they can.”
Christine Bottger, general manager of the Clearwater Beach Holiday Inn, was another who opted to stay. “We’re in a pretty safe area and a pretty sound house, and honestly by the time I would have been able to leave, we would be stuck without a hotel room, then perhaps be stuck on an interstate, not where I want to be in the middle of a storm,” she said.
She said the waterfront hotel suffered significant damage and was flooded by two feet of water in Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, and contractors were in as recently as Monday to start measuring up for repairs.
Now Bottger fears any wind damage from Milton will bring further delay, although she said the hotel’s staff of about 120, which she calls a family, will be eager to help with the clean-up.
She said that even if the hotel cannot reopen for guests, its rooms could shelter first responders and essential workers to help speed the city’s recovery.
“We can get the power companies in and give them a clean room with a comfortable bed, and help get the infrastructure that’s needed back up and running,” she said. “It helps everybody. The pool has 2ft of sand in it and the restaurant was wrecked in Helene, but they won’t be using those.”
Like Champ and Hall, Bottger said warnings from local officials to those who needed to evacuate were clear and on point, and that residents were more likely to listen to those than more general messaging from state or federal authorities.
“The city manager and police chief were driving around yesterday afternoon on the beach, just checking everything before the bridges to the barrier islands were closed,” she said.
“They felt most people were heeding the warning. This time around people noticed the intensity and started taking it seriously when they saw 180mph winds being talked about. It opened their eyes.”