Calgary family was among millions of people escaping Hurricane Milton, saying, "We drove for 10 hours."
To complicate matters, the family was driving an electric rental car.
A Calgary family found themselves among the millions fleeing Florida this week as Hurricane Milton tore through the state. What was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for Andy Row and his family quickly turned into two days of gathering supplies, followed by an unexpectedly long road trip.
The family arrived in Orlando last weekend, just days before the massive storm struck. Initially, the storm’s severity was underestimated, but forecasts grew increasingly dire. "The forecast kept getting worse and worse," Row told CityNews.
On Monday, two days before Hurricane Milton was expected to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast, the family decided to leave for Atlanta. The freeway was packed with people trying to escape. "They opened the shoulders on the left lane to add an extra lane," Row said. "But we were going 10 or 15 miles per hour for long stretches."
To complicate matters, the family was driving an electric rental car. "I don’t recommend an emergency evacuation in a car that needs charging," Row noted, adding that finding charging stations took a lot of time.
After 10 hours of driving, the family stopped at a rural Georgia hotel for the night, even though the typical Orlando-to-Atlanta trip is about six hours. "We were really lucky to even get a hotel," Row said, explaining that rooms were fully booked from Orlando up into Georgia.
Despite the chaos, the family safely reached Atlanta, where they planned to fly home to Calgary. Row expressed relief at escaping the storm’s devastation, noting, "There’s a great big hole in the roof of the Orlando airport, so we’re flying out of Atlanta now."
Hurricane Milton moved into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after wreaking havoc across Florida. The storm left more than 3 million people without power, triggered a barrage of tornadoes, and caused at least five deaths. By early Thursday, Milton had weakened to a Category 1 storm, with sustained winds of 85 mph (135 kph).
Authorities ordered evacuations across 11 Florida counties, and several tornadoes were reported, including one in St. Lucie County that claimed four lives. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mélanie Joly, had urged Canadians living in Florida seasonally to evacuate ahead of the storm.
