FENTON, Mo. — A St. Louis area family is bracing for what Milton could bring. Their Florida home was just damaged from Hurricane Helene and they fear this next storm will pack even more of a punch.
The family spends half the year in Fenton and the other half in Florida. Bradenton Beach is on Anna Maria Island, about an hour outside of Tampa. The community sits right on the Gulf of Mexico.
"Just watching all the devastation is so hard,” Susan Putney said.
She has the images to prove the effects of Mother Nature.
"This is when the water came into the entry hall in the garage,” she pointed out after 30 inches of water made its way inside.
That was from Hurricane Helene.
"We had 3 foot of sand on the road,” she explained.
They lost power, water and their car.
"We were supposed to go down there on Sunday and meet with the insurance adjuster…but we had to put that on hold,” Putney continued.
That's because Hurricane Milton is on the way and it feels like deja vu, only worse.
"I don't have a good feeling about this,” she said.
She and her husband moved many of their valuables from the garage to the first floor because of the last storm. This one is expected to be even more powerful.
"If it gets to the first floor, then we’re going to lose a lot…It's going to be scary for a lot of people…Our sweet little island's never going to be the same,” Putney said.
They’re trying to keep calm and keep things in perspective. "When you think of the people in North Carolina that no one has gotten to yet, that's so much worse."
Putney says this is the first time water has entered that townhome community. That's why they're so on edge.
She said her biggest concern is for people in Florida who have nowhere else to go.