PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — It’s a critical question many Floridians contemplate during hurricane season — should I stay or should I go?
Evacuating during a storm can have its setbacks but, ultimately, can be the difference between life and death.
On the water’s edge in Hudson, proudly stands the home of Kate Mullin.
“This is where I live full time," she says. "This is my home. I have electric and that’s it, really. Oh, and water.”
It’s been eight months since Hurricane Helene, which flooded Mullin’s home and forced her to evacuate. Its impression is still noticeable on the home’s walls.
“It’s hard when you come back and you’ve got four and a half feet of flood water that’s just taken away everything you’ve worked the last year for,” said Mullin, who evacuated during Hurricane Helene.
Being in a mandatory evacuation zone, Mullin says she headed inland to Spring Hill. But it didn’t come without any sacrifices, as she had to leave her cat ‘Robby’ behind. Mullin jokes the cat may have a life or two left.
“Five. He’s had two, one with each storm.”
Jokes aside, had Mullin also stayed, she says the consequences could have been dire.
“Probably, if I’d have stayed, which I wouldn’t have thought about to do because you know how bad floods can be. I wouldn’t have made it," she said/
Thirty minutes south of Mullin in Holiday…
“I fly an American Flag. I have ever since I bought the house and previous owners did, too. It’s one of my favorite parts of the house.”
Stacey Van Schenck has a different story — one that did not involve evacuating.
“I’ve lived through all of them and never experienced anything like what I just experienced,” said Van Schenck.
Van Schenck’s sentiment is one many Floridians share, thinking a storm won’t impact them until it does.
“Complacency is something that the folks around Tampa Bay have dealt with many hurricane seasons over,” says Spectrum Bay News 9 meteorologist Josh Linker. Linker says Hurricane Helene changed people’s perspective. So when Hurricane Milton approached weeks later, people started thinking of evacuating early.
“The challenge with that, deciding not to evacuate early, is that maybe your neighborhood is not going to be underwater, but your evacuation path might be,” Linker said. “In this area here, as an example, in North St. Pete, this was under several feet of water, making certain intersections and roadways impassable. If you made that decision late, that’s going to cause some bigger problems for you.”
Van Schenck says by the time she thought about evacuating, it was too late. It is a lesson she’s learned for the future.
“I think what people lose sight of, and myself as well, is if you don’t evacuate and you have a medical emergency, first responders can’t get to you,” said Van Schenk. “So you’re putting your own life at risk, not only for the dangers of the storm, but after the fact.”
A view Mullin shares…
“If they tell you evacuate, I evacuate,” she says. “You can’t live on the water and just think that’s OK.”
Both women continue picking up the pieces. With a few surprises to be found along the way, including Van Schenk’s missing flag.
“That makes my heart happy; like I said, things like this, that excites me,” says Van Schenk. “It’s a sign of hope to me, for some reason, that just makes my day to see that’s where my flag is. And I can’t believe in six months I haven’t noticed that.”
A small glimmer of hope during a difficult time, surviving a storm season that left a lasting impact on both women’s lives.
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