FLORIDA, USA — Several former West Michiganders who now live in Florida are sharing their experiences of living through Hurricane Milton.
This was the view outside Kevin Bruinsma's home in Sarasota, FL around 8 p.m. Wednesday night. He grew up in Grand Rapids, but moved to Florida in 2019.
He watched conditions deteriorate in his neighborhood throughout the day.
"If you were to go outside with an umbrella, it's blowing your umbrella back and pushing you back physically like it's hard to close the front door," he told 13 ON YOUR SIDE.
He said his hurricane shutters are up, sinks and bathtubs are filled with water for flushing toilets and fridge and AC are turned way down.
"We could probably go four days without power, if necessary."
Stephanie Kennert is from Muskegon, but now lives in Fort Myers.
"Everybody is definitely, like, on edge and on high alert. This storm just feels like something way different than what the entire state's ever experienced before," she said.
"Tomorrow when we all wake up, we're going to be waking up to a completely different reality. Everyone's lives are gonna be changed. So tomorrow's really when you need to check in on your friends and family that are in Florida, because it's gonna be devastating what we wake up to."