SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — As Hurricane Milton barreled toward land, those who chose not to evacuate braced for impact.
There are many people in metro Detroit with Florida connections. Deana McDonald from Lapeer is one of them.
McDonald moved to Frostproof, Florida in Polk County with her family in 2019.
“It is surreal. It is very different than anything in Michigan,” McDonald said.
While McDonald did not expect extreme damage, Wednesday afternoon, she was feeling a degree of anxiety.
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“We boarded up and we have some, they’re called, clamshell shutters and we have those down in other areas and every safety guard that we can, so just hoping for the best and praying for the best and prepared for the worst,” said McDonald said.
Hey family is not in a mandatory evacuation area but is expecting major power outages and have experienced wind, tornado warnings and heavy rain.
“Our street is flooded, but we don’t anticipate it coming up to our house. But it could change,” McDonald said.
Cassandra Stephens is in Largo, Florida in Pinellas County. Stephens does live in a mandatory evacuation area but decided to stay in place.
“I did take a calculated risk by staying. I have two children, two guinea pigs and a pit bull,” Stephens said. “I may regret my decision.”
Flooding and high winds were picking up mid-Wednesday.
“A lot of anxiety. This is the worst storm to hit our county in a hundred years. It is our storm of the century, I guess,” Stephens said.
She says her family is well prepared with sandbags in place and proper supplies.
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“We have our batteries. We’ve been freezing water in all of our Tupperware containers. We’ve done as much prep as we possibly can. We have enough food. We have enough medicine,” Stephens said.
Both families plan to check in Thursday morning.
“Keep us in your thoughts. There are a lot of Michigan residents in Florida,” Stephens said.
