Milton: Bay Area family bracing for hurricane in Florida, Red Cross sends more help
A family from Walnut Creek visiting Florida is alongside the thousands of Floridians bracing for impact as Hurricane Milton approaches the Tampa Bay region, the second major storm to hit the state in less than two weeks.
The state is gearing up for it to be a record-breaking storm.
Greg Moyer said when he and his family traveled to Fort Myers, Florida to visit his parents, no one was expecting a hurricane.
"In a matter of days, it went from ‘this is a tropical storm’ and then overnight it was a category 5 hurricane," said Moyer.
Now, like millions of Floridians who’ve been forced to evacuate, he’s trying to stay out of Milton’s path.
Weather forecasters predict storm surge of up to 15 feet along the Gulf Coast from Saint Petersburg to Sarasota.
Meanwhile, Floridians are still cleaning up debris from Helene.
"When Helene came through, there was water almost all the way up to our door and this one coming around is supposed to be a lot stronger," said Moyer, whose parents sent him videos from the day Helene hit.
He said his family evacuated the west coast of Florida and headed east to a rental in Miami.
He said he doesn’t know whether his family will be able to get back to California if there’s significant damage, road closures, and flight cancelations in the coming days.
State officials said it’s the state’s "largest evacuation ever," with Florida Governor Ron Desantis saying more than 300 health care facilities were evacuated and their patients sent elsewhere.
Crews overwhelmed with recovery from the last storm are gearing up to turn their attention to Milton.
The Red Cross sent nearly 50 people from the Bay Area, including Executive Director for Red Cross North Bay Vincent Valenzuela, who leaves for Tampa Bay on Wednesday morning.
"This is going to be one for the records," Valenzuela said.
He will join the 2,000 Red Cross volunteers on the ground in a combined Helene and Milton response operation.
"Some of the folks coming out of Helene, before we knew Milton was coming right on its heels, were just starting the recovery piece of a disaster response," Valenzuela said.
Now, he said more resources are on their way. "We won’t really divide resources, we’re just looking to make sure there aren’t pockets that are left without resources."
Valenzuela said they will work on providing safe shelter, food, and reunification to families separated by the storm.
Milton has fluctuated in intensity but as of 11 p.m. ET Tuesday, sits about 400 miles west of the coast of Florida, remaining a Category 5. It’s expected to make landfall as a Category 3 Wednesday night.
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Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit Florida, residents are preparing for another major storm as Hurricane Milton strengthens in the Gulf of Mexico.