Florida families with ties to Massachusetts make it through Milton, look ahead to recovery

BOSTON – Floridians, including those with ties to Massachusetts, are picking up the pieces as Hurricane Milton left behind a path of destruction overnight.

“A whole new fear level”

“If it was daytime, it would be a different story, but there’s a whole new fear level when you have it at night,” said Jen Rivers, who moved to the suburbs of Orlando from North Andover. Milton’s fury ripped her neighbor’s pool screens off at the height of the storm.

“This time I wasn’t taking any chances,” evacuee Evan Conway said. The Weymouth native was stuck in gridlock traffic trying to escape from Tampa to Georgia. Hurricane Helene already flooded out Evan’s home – now this. “From the last storm, it’s probably completely underwater.”

Home withstands hurricane

And remember the Bradenton family whose house was built to withstand a Category 5 storm? Rivers said the Semeraro family is in good spirits and didn’t have any damage at all, despite being in Milton’s path. They did, however, lose cellphone service.

“Their house withstood the hurricane like they said it would,” Rivers explained.

Unknown what they’re returning home to

For the millions who did evacuate, the realization is setting in that they don’t know what they’re going home to.

“By no means am I expecting to get off scot-free. I’m anticipating a pretty bad scene. I’m just kind of hoping I didn’t lose everything again,” Conway said.

As for if any of the Massachusetts natives regret moving to Florida, “These storms, yeah, they make you question it,” Rivers joked. “But I would take the sunny days every day over 11 feet of snow!”