Even though she lives nearly fifteen meters from the sea and an evacuation notice has been issued for her area, a Quebecer who lives in Pelican Bay, on the west coast of Florida, has decided to stay at home during the hurricane Milton.
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Pascale Banville says after taking the necessary precautions, she feels safe enough to weather the “extremely dangerous” storm expected to reach Florida on Wednesday.
“We decide to stay here because, (in) the building where I live, we are lucky to have a building which is higher than the water level. So, the sea, if we have a nine-foot ground wave, all it’s going to hit is our garage because the garage is below the building“, she explains.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the hurricane Milton could be “Florida’s worst storm in a century.”
He also called on residents to evacuate “now,” adding that it is a “matter of life and death.”
The mayor of Tampa, which is north of Pelican Bay, also sounded the alarm. “If you choose to stay in one of the evacuation zones, you will die,” Jane Castor told CNN Monday evening.
Despite everything, Pascale Banville feels sufficiently safe with the preparations that have been made around her building.
She and residents filled sandbags Monday and Tuesday in an effort to keep the water out.
“This morning, we made sandbags. Yesterday too, we made 300 in total. We put boards of plywood to block the two garage entrances. So, we feel safe here with our residents and with the employees,” says the woman.
If several of her friends contact her and are worried about her safety, she wants to be reassuring.
“It’s probably the building the safest place I can be because all the shutters are lowered and we will have boards of plywoodso I’m not afraid,” she said.
Watch the full interview in the video above.
