Pictures and videos continue to pour in on social media from Florida following the destructive path of Hurricane Milton as more people assess the damages to their homes and businesses.
For many northeast Ohioans living in the part of Florida impacted by the storm, they describe it as different from any other as it moved from Siesta Key on the West Coast to Daytona Beach on the East Coast.
"I'm just going to go ahead and say that I would much rather take a nor'easter over a hurricane any day," said Zachary Downes. "At least I know what to do with the snow."
Downes, a native of Ashtabula, had not been home for days. He had been working on the team of Orange County Public Information Officers that provided life-saving information to residents before, during, and after Milton.
Downes called Milton different, massive, and destructive, whereas Ian in 2020 was more of a water event.
"I'll have to say that I slept pretty easy through Ian," said Downes, "but with all of those wind gusts going through downtown Orlando and hitting the building that I'm currently in, it was was a journey. I didn't sleep well."
Domn Tkacz of Wooster and his wife hunkered down at their winter home in the villages. Tkacz told News 5 that he feared the worst.
"So it wasn't bad. It was the windiest," said Tkacz. "I have not seen any damage to any homes in the area, other than a tiny piece of siding I just put back on our neighbor's house."
Over the next couple of weeks, the damage assessment will be tallied.
"We don't have full damage assessments, storm surge, damage, things like that," Regional Executive for the Northern Ohio Region of the American Red Cross Michael Parks said.
Crews have been in Florida and Georgia since Helene hit late last month. Hurricane Milton has brought even more crews to help re-unify families and help people displaced by the storm.
83-thousand evacuees are being helped in shelters just from hurricane Milton alone.
"And I think the biggest thing people can do to help is, if they can give blood, there's always a need for blood," said Parks. "If they can volunteer, we certainly would love to have you volunteer."
