Florida Reels From Hurricane Milton: Oklahomans Share Stories Of Destruction

People are digging through the damage in Florida following Hurricane Milton.

Millions of people still don't have power, including several Oklahomans who live there now. 

Oklahomans there have so many stories of destruction and damage after Hurricane Milton hit land.

Those who stayed said Wednesday night was terrifying.

The chainsaws are out and the cleanup has begun after Hurricane Milton ripped through Florida.

"Trees down, power outages, lot of people got flooded up and down the coast.”

Dwight and Shelley Durant live near Cape Coral and hunkered down on the third floor of a condo.

"The storm first came straight down this canal right here and later pivoted around this way this is where the tree came down on our boat.”

Their catamaran is used for more than pleasure. Dwight and Shelley run a nonprofit called Ten Seven Retreat, where they take families of fallen Oklahoma officers on all-expense paid trips to the Bahamas.

The only damage they have is a tree that fell onto it.

Many people in Florida have barely recovered from Helene's destruction. 

"They both had about the same storm surge, about 6.5 feet," Dwight said.

"We’re still recovering from that on top of that the landfall of Milton 5 miles away from where I live," said Elizabeth Russell. "It was a different experience.”

Elizabeth Russell lives near Sarasota in Longboat Key and says she chose to stay, despite her son in Tulsa telling her to evacuate.

She said listening to the wind gusts was the most terrifying part.

"I thought the windows in my condo were gonna burst open," she said.

She said her town is devastated, and many homes and businesses are destroyed.

“Debris everywhere, homes where water came up 6-8 inches high in their living rooms," she said. "It's a very very scary thing .”

At least nine people have died from Milton and recoveries are still ongoing. 

Many Oklahoma linemen and other helpers are already there, helping restore power and get people the items they need.