As Hurricane Milton approached Florida on Wednesday, The Sun asked readers to let us know about their connections to the area and what worried them most. Their answers evolved throughout the storm’s progress, as they began to sort through who and what had been affected

Florida residents, too, returned to the doleful task of assessing storm damage Thursday, the day after Hurricane Milton cut a swath through many coastal communities and triggered a barrage of tornadoes that killed at least five people, less than two weeks after the havoc wrought by Helene.

The storm cut power to more than 3 million people, swamped barrier islands, ripped the roof off Tampa’s major league baseball stadium and upended a construction crane.

Still, many residents gave thanks that it wasn’t worse. Tampa was spared a direct hit, and the deadly storm surge that was predicted fizzled out. But the predictions for the storm were dire, and several locals told us they feared the worst would hit their families.

Milton veered to the south in the final hours and struck land late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa. Damage was severe, but not “the worst-case scenario,” Florida officials said.

Here’s what our fellow Marylanders had to say about their ties to the areas in Milton’s path.

Evacuating from Tampa to Maryland

For Amanee Cabbagestalk, evacuation was a given. On Monday, she fled her home in Tampa, Florida, and drove to her native Baltimore, where her family lives. The mass exodus crept north; the trip took 25 hours.

“It was like something out of a disaster movie,” Cabbagestalk wrote to The Sun. “I left around 6 P.M. and it took almost nine hours to get to the Georgia state line. They opened the shoulder on [Interstate 75] so that there were four lanes. Traffic was still bumper to bumper. I saw so many linemen in trucks going the opposite direction to prepare for the power outages.”

Flying to Baltimore wasn’t possible, Cabbagestallk said: there were too few flights at “astronomical” prices. Besides. the Tampa airport closed Tuesday morning.

She’d never fled a storm before.

“This is the first hurricane that I’ve ever felt the need to evacuate,” wrote Cabbagestalk, a Tampa resident for 13 years, who is from Woodlawn/Catonsville. “My house is not in one of the mandatory evacuation zones, but it’s very close. When the police rode through my neighborhood with a loudspeaker saying that evacuation orders had been issued, I knew it was time to go.”

She secured her residence as best she could.

“I put sandbags and plastic tarp down in front of my exterior doors,” she wrote. “The sandbags were provided by the county; the allowance was 10 per vehicle. I waited in line 2½ hours for them.”

Like others who left town, Cabbagestalk feared what she’ll find upon her return. But a phone call to a neighbor Thursday morning put her mind at ease. The storm had passed, the sun came up and her house was standing, albeit without electricity.

“Every person I’ve talked to in Tampa is still without power,” she wrote. “My neighbor said the wind was so intense that it made the house shake. [There are] lots of downed trees and branches, part of a gutter is hanging off, and most of the exterior lights are damaged. [But] our neighborhood was lucky, considering people just a few miles away lost everything.”

Disabled veteran turned away

For Ryan Carter, leaving his home in Tampa was no option. A disabled veteran, Carter has quadriplegia and uses a wheelchair to get around. But still he and his wife and caregiver, Casey, were turned away from area hospitals for shelter during the superstorm, a decision that still angers his cousin, Alisha Williams, of Joppatowne.

“[The Carters] contacted the VA hospital in Tampa to admit Ryan so he would be taken care of during the hurricane [but were told] there was no space for him,” Williams wrote. When other local hospitals followed suit, the Carters sought emergency evacuation support from officials in nearby Pasco County, who have yet to respond, Williams said.

Meanwhile, 1,000 miles away, she waits and prays.

“I haven’t heard from them [recently], but they probably do not have any power,” Williams wrote. “Casey posted on Facebook last night that the winds sounded like a train. Our family [in Maryland] is very concerned about their safety and welfare, especially since the Mayor of Tampa said that if you stay in the area, ‘You will die!'”

To that end, Williams has extended an open plea to Florida residents:

“We need help from anyone in Pasco County who can get a disabled veteran and his wife into a safe location,” she wrote. The worst outcome, Williams said, is unthinkable.

After daughters’ pleas, a father chooses safety

Amanda Wisniewski’s emotions ran the gamut. From five states away, the Baltimore resident felt futility, fury and fear for the safety of her father, who refused to leave the family’s condo in Largo, Florida, with the hurricane bearing down.

“Despite being part of Evacuation Group A, he originally had no intention of leaving,” Wisniewski wrote of her father. “I will say that he does not believe in climate change, and his political opinions are regurgitated Fox News points. When I spoke to him on the phone Tuesday and learned of his plans to stay, I realized it could very well be our last conversation. I could not focus after this call. My sisters and I felt terrified and completely helpless.”

To their relief, Wisniewski’s father finally acquiesced.

“He called [Wednesday] morning to let me know he decided to leave for Knoxville, Tenn.; I could hear sirens in the background,” she wrote. “I am very relieved that he chose safety. However, I will forever be furious about the way the right-wing media (official or otherwise) has made him skeptical of common sense and science.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Klingaman at jklingaman@baltsun.com and 410-332-6456.