VENICE, Fla. — As thousands of Floridians headed out of Hurricane Milton’s path, traffic was bumper to bumper for a while. Barbara Pestorius was one of many people in Florida from Rochester trying to get out.

What’s normally a three hour drive from Venice to Miami for her, took eight hours. When Barbara got the evacuation orders, she knew she had to leave. Her home in Venice is surrounded by water.

Her brother and sister in-law helped board up the windows to prepare for the wind and storm surge. She packed up what her son Matt described as “half the house” and headed across the state to his place.

Barbara says she’s seen the damage Hurricane Helene and other hurricanes have caused and wanted to be prepared — even if it meant packing more than she might need. Staying put, she says, wasn’t a choice for her.

“In a surge of even six feet, we would have no place to go, because we are in like a ranch home, and there’s no windows in our crawl space, and so you just can’t take any chances. It’s not worth it. You know, it’s not worth your life to go through this,” Barbara said.

Barbara says she’s expecting the damage in Venice to look similar to what Helene caused in North Carolina.

Now, Barbara says it’s a waiting game to see what her place will look like or if it will even still be standing.

Former Rochesterian Joe Agostinelli is in an evacuation zone as Hurricane Milton hurtles towards the Florida coast. His apartment is about 25 feet off the ground, and the storm surge could reach as high as 15 feet.

Joe weighed whether to leave Clearwater, but at the end of the day, it came down to family. They weren’t leaving, so neither was he.

He has done a ton to prepare. He’s blasted the A/C to cool off the apartment in case the power goes out, charged up all of his devices and power banks, and stocked up on bottled water, ice, other drinks and food that won’t go bad.

“As early as this morning, I was thinking, ‘Alright, do I stay? Do I go to Jacksonville? Do I stay? Do I go to Jacksonville?’ I’m like, ‘Alright, stayed this long.’ I mean, for me, it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m in an apartment complex. Everything I own is insured. The car is insured outside. So if that stuff goes That’s fine,'” Joe said.

Joe’s keeping in contact with his family and says the safety of his and their lives are the highest priority. He also is leaning on the other people in his building and says if it gets bad, they will stick together.

News10NBC’s Antonina Tortorello spoke with Joe and will keep in contact with him as much as she can. He says he’s hoping for the best and that he can Zoom with News10NBC Thursday in an apartment that’s still standing.

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