- American Red Cross saw 243 people utilize their evacuation shelter at the North Florida Fair Grounds
- American Red Cross says this shelter will stay open as long as people need it.
- Watch the video to see where the evacuees are from.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Neighbors who evacuated to the big bend for safety from hurricane Milton woke up Thursday morning to pack up and head back home to see what damage the storm has caused.
I’m Ashley Engle in the Southeast Tallahassee Neighborhood where people hunkered down to get away from the storm.
243 neighbors from areas like Tampa and Fort Myers called North Florida Fairgrounds their temporary home. Evacuating from hurricane Milton’s danger.
“I don’t really know what to do”
David Moore is one of those evacuees. He made the trip here from Ocala.
He says his home got destroyed by Hurricane Helene. And once he saw Milton coming, he didn't want to take the risk.
“Maybe we can do a little better next time when something like this happens”
American Red Cross opened up this evacuation shelter which can house up to 300 people.
“We already had this shelter open for folks who have been impacted by Helene, so it made perfect sense to size it down a little bit and let more folks in there.”
Sharon Carraway Executive Director for the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross says this neighborhood went through Hurricane Idalia last year, the May tornadoes, Hurricane Debby, and Hurricane Helene.
Right now, as an organization, their goal is to make sure neighbors are safe and have a place to go.
“It’s our job to stay prepared year-round. The word unprecedented has been used ad nauseam but all of this is unprecedented.”
A time to rebuild again for some as David told me, he’s taking this day by day.
“I’m really unsure what to do but I just know that I’m just going to stay positive, that’s all you can do you know. You can’t be down. Just keep on shining and have a positive attitude.”
The shelter will remain open until it is no longer needed. In southeast Tallahassee, I’m Ashley Engle ABC 27.
