Florida family finds refuge in Baldwin County to evacuate from Hurricane Milton
Florida family finds refuge in Baldwin County to evacuate from Hurricane Milton
Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, with many residents of the southeast still recovering from Hurricane Helene.
BALDWIN COUNTY, Ga. — People in Florida are heading to Central Georgia to take cover from Hurricane Milton.
Some families are even flying in their planes so they will not be damaged.
Alex Montgomery brought his family from Tampa to escape the storm. He says he saw what happened during Helene to his hangar and says he did not want to risk his plane being damaged.
“The hangar where I keep my small airplane was underwater from that storm,” he said. “Fortunately, we got the plane out of there, but this time we know it could be significantly worse. So we had to get out of there and we found a little window of weather this morning.”
Montgomery says he and his wife and their two kids and his wife’s mom got out of Tampa in the nick of time.
He said they cut it close, and they almost decided to drive their cars, but he realized he did not want his airplane to be damaged, he says.
“I’m like, 99% sure that if I left the plane there, it would be destroyed because two weeks ago, Helene came by,” he said. “Helene was 100 miles off of Tampa where it passed by. But the storm surge put our hangar underwater.”
Not only did they leave because of their plane, but he says he was worried about the trees falling on his house, since they live a mile from downtown Tampa.
“We’re supposed to be getting a direct hit from Hurricane Milton, which was a category five,” he said.
He says the easiest solution was for them to rent a VRBO at the lake in Baldwin County.
“You’ve got these beautiful lakes here, Lake Oconee and Lake Saint Claire. I’ve been to Lake Oconee about five years ago and it’s a great memory. I’ve never brought my family here before. So i was really excited to show them the area,” Montgomery says.
Montgomery says anyone undecided should leave Florida and head to safety before Milton arrives.