As Hurricane Milton heads toward Florida's west coast, residents of Siesta Key are experiencing back-to-back storms after 45 years of “lucky” weather.
Milton was a Category 3 storm Wednesday afternoon and was expected to make landfall near Tampa, Florida, late Wednesday night or early Thursday.
Late last month, many residents were beginning to pick up the remains of their lives when Hurricane Helen pummeled the region and spawned Milton in the Gulf of Mexico.
FOX 13 in Tampa We spoke with Fred Schuh, who built a home on Siesta Key with his wife, raised their children there, and built a memorable life for them.
Florida hurricane chaser says Milton prompted 'race' to evacuate residents
Fred Schuh of Siesta Key, Fla., is preparing for the second hurricane in less than two weeks as Milton heads toward Florida's west coast. (FOX 13 in Tampa)
Mr Schuh's home was nearly destroyed during the Helen incident, and images taken by the bureau showed the water level outside the house reached about a third of the way up the front door, just below the doorknob. There is.
There was a roughly knee-high line along the perimeter of the house, a reminder of how high the water level was indoors.
As Hurricane Milton threatens Florida, food and drink essentials to weather the storm
The water line around the inside of Fred Schuh's home in Siesta Key, Florida, shows how high waves rose during Hurricane Helen. (FOX 13 in Tampa)
Mr Xu has a trash can in his front garden to store destroyed possessions and memorabilia, but another storm is on the way and is expected to cause more damage.
With so many unknowns, Schuh doesn't know what will happen to her home during Hurricane Milton. Trees could fall on homes and 5 to 6 feet of water could flood inside.
Hurricane Milton Florida evacuation: What to prepare for the storm
During Hurricane Helen in late September, the water level was so high that it reached about one-third of Fred Schuh's front entrance. (FOX 13 in Tampa)
“Initially there were only three, but we expect that to be more, probably due to this proliferation of inflow methods,” he told the station.
Fred got some of his belongings and secured his home for Round 2, but also put the recovery process from Round 1 on hold.
“What are you going to do? It's Mother Nature,” he said. “We've been lucky for over 45 years. We never thought it would go away in two weeks after all that time. But that's the way things are.”
Hurricane Milton intensifies and grows in size before making landfall in Florida
Fred Schuh of Siesta Key, Fla., is preparing for his second hurricane in less than two weeks as Milton approaches Florida's west coast. (FOX 13 in Tampa)
Venice Police Chief Charlie Thorpe warned residents of the south Sarasota community to prepare now.
“This is going to be a pretty significant storm,” the chief said. “I've said it many times to people in many meetings: We got hit by Ian, we weren't slapped. I feel like this is going to be a wrecking ball in this situation.”
Thorp told FOX 13 that some people don't take warnings seriously, like two weeks ago when Helen hit the area and police were called to rescue people who didn't evacuate. He said he was concerned that this might happen.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I'm really concerned that some people in the mobile home park may have felt like, 'Hey, we got over Ian,' but in my heart it's not going to be the same.” Especially those close to the site would think so if the coastline. ”
