Western New Yorkers in Florida evacuate their homes ahead of Hurricane Milton

BUFFALO N.Y. (WIVB) -- About a week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region, residents in the Sunshine State are bracing for another major impact.

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida's west coast, WIVB News 4 spoke with Western New York natives who are fleeing their Florida homes before it hits.

Martha and Dan Meegan's home in Gulfport, Florida, is under a mandatory evacuation.

"They tell us in Florida to hide from the wind, run from the water," Martha said.

After dealing with Hurricane Helene last week, the couple said they did not want to stick around for the next storm.

"I'll tell you, it was very hard for me to leave, but I know we're doing the right thing," she said.

Martha and Dan live on the ninth floor of a building in a retirement community. Helene caused a major storm surge last week and carried water over the sea wall, which flooded their building's first floor and knocked the power out for a week.

Milton is now expected to cause even more damage.

"They're predicting about eight to 12 feet of storm surge — that could be up to our second floor residence this time and those poor first floor people, they're probably going to get flooded again," Martha said.

Martha is worried about several of her neighbors who are in their 80s and 90s and aren't able to evacuate.

"We just pray that everyone is going to be safe up and down the Gulf Coast and Tampa," she said. "It's going to be a big storm. It's going to be a tough one."

Western New York Native Joe Agostinelli now lives in the Clearwater area of Florida. He's not under a mandatory evacuation order, but he doesn't want to take any chances and is heading out to Jacksonville.

"You always know that there is a chance for the one, hopefully this isn't the one, but by all sounds of it, it very well could be, so we'll see," he said. "With hurricanes, you learn a lot about the preparation and the impacts. For this one, I don't want to be here if it's a direct hit."