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Hurrican Milton

An extremely powerful and destructive tropical cyclone which became the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico
October 7-9, 2024


We Were Blessed
Many people lost everything and some even lost their lives
Hurricane Milton was an extremely powerful and destructive tropical cyclone which became the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico, behind only Hurricane Rita in 2005. Milton made landfall on the west coast of the U.S. state of Florida, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the state's Big Bend region. Milton was the strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2024.

Milton formed from a long-tracked tropical disturbance that originated in the western Caribbean Sea and consolidated in the Bay of Campeche on October 5. Gradual intensification occurred as it slowly moved eastward, becoming a hurricane early on October 7. Later that day, Milton underwent explosive intensification and became a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 180 mph (285 km/h). At peak intensity, it had a pressure of 897 millibars (26.49 inHg), making it the fifth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. Milton weakened to a Category 4 hurricane after an eyewall replacement cycle, and reintensified into a Category 5 hurricane the following day. Increasing wind shear caused the hurricane to weaken as it turned northeast towards Florida, falling to Category 3 status before making landfall near Siesta Key late on October 9.] Afterwards, Milton rapidly weakened as it moved across the state into the Atlantic Ocean, and became extratropical on October 10 as it became embedded within a frontal zone. The remnants gradually weakened and passed near the island of Bermuda before becoming indistinguishable and dissipating on October 13.

Ahead of the hurricane, Florida declared a state of emergency in which many coastal residents were ordered to evacuate. Hurricane Milton killed at least 35 people: 32 in the United States and three in Mexico. Preliminary damage estimates place the total cost of destruction from the storm at US$85 billion.



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The Braden home on October 8, with debris from Hurricane Helene still awaiting pickup.


 
October 8: Pictures of the front of the house. Outdoor furniture was secured or brought into the garage.

   
October 8: Pictures of the back of the house.


October 9: Our street


 
Oct 9: Front of the house


   
October 9: The back yard


   
October 9-13: In cleaning up, we created a pile of limbs and leaves ten feet high and filled 50 black pags with leaves.



Oct 14: To help get rid of all the trash bags, we even paid some entrerprising kids to haul bags away.


   
November 18: We finally got a cleanup crew into the neighborhood, but there
is still at least a month of cleanup still waiting at other locations


 
November 18: Cleaning up the area where the limbs and leaves sat - $80 worth of sod



November 21: Trash bags have been picked up. Just need to keep the sod watered and nourished



Please note that the cleanup effort depicted on this Web page is absolutely miniscule compared to what others have endured. For example, Joyce's son Michael and his wife Karri had major damage to their home in Hudson, Florida, on the Gulf north of Tampa) due to Hurricane Idalia which hit them in late August 2023. They had 12 inches of water in their home that resulted in the loss of all their furniture and appliances, plus the home required a new roof. Thirteen months later Hurricane Helene put 5 feet of water in their home that ruined all their new furniture and appliances, and also destroyed Michael's truck.



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