In the eye of the storm: Bulgarians share first-hand accounts of Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton, which hit the west coast of the US on Thursday, did not cause the catastrophic storm surge that had been expected. But the damage is nonetheless considerable. Authorities have reported 10 deaths so far, and that number is expected to rise in the coming hours. More than 2 million people are without power. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises Bulgarian citizens in the state of Florida to strictly follow the instructions of the local authorities and to avoid travelling to the affected areas. There is no information about Bulgarian nationals injured or how many have been evacuated from the danger zones.

"There is no official count of how many Bulgarians are in the affected areas because Bulgarians here are not obliged to register or say whether they are evacuating. The data is based on rough estimates. But at the same time our embassy in Washington provides a phone number in the US 202 387 0174 which can be called by Bulgarian citizens who need help," said BNR's Washington correspondent Mladen Petkov.

"We have no visible damage to our home. We have electricity and water, which makes us very happy," compatriot Daniela Ilieva, who lives in Orlando, Florida, told Radio Bulgaria late last night. Her city is about an hour and a half inland from the west coast, so she did not have to evacuate. She says more frightening than the hurricane were the multiple tornadoes that preceded it in many places. "Its funnel would suck up everything in its path, a house could be wiped off the face of the earth in an instant." The Bulgarian woman praises the Florida authorities for taking adequate and timely measures.

"I am quite impressed and appreciate how the authorities have handled the situation. The measures they have taken and the work that has been done is remarkable. There were sandbag filling stations in every park, in every neighbourhood, where you could go and fill your sandbags to secure the windows and doors in your house. The organisation was amazing and they kept us up to date all the time. All the shops closed at the same time, so there was less traffic. Colleges and universities closed on Tuesday so students could go home.

Daniela herself hopes that life will return to normal almost immediately. Students in Florida will start classes on Monday, "All we need is electricity so that people can go back to their homes and then life will go on," she says. Florida's hurricane season, which began in June, will last until November, making the threat ever present.

Cities such as Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa were in critical condition after being hit by fierce winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour. "Our compatriots and all my friends and acquaintances from different states that I talk to, we are all extremely worried," says Maria Samichkova, a contributor to Radio Bulgaria from Las Vegas. She adds:

"Many of the Bulgarians living in Florida have decided to evacuate. A lot of them have families with young children and they don't want to traumatise them, so they have fled to neighbouring states. Others have decided to stay in the state. They evacuated to Miami, where rain was expected, but not a hurricane. Our compatriots are safe and we hope that their homes will not be affected by the flooding and the strong storm. But I understand that some Bulgarians have decided to stay in their homes."

Asya Ilkova, her friend and her relatives.

Among them is Asya Ilkova from Sarasota. She decided to stay with her relatives at home. "The authorities acted in time, preparations started on Sunday," she told Radio Bulgaria, adding:

"I have kids, a friend of mine came to our house with her 5-year-old. My niece, who is expecting a baby in a week, also came with her family because we are closer to a hospital. Most of my friends and acquaintances had gathered like this, two or three families at a time. Some gathered at the homes of those who had generators because we were waiting for the power to go off. But thank God the damage was less than expected! Most importantly, I am grateful that there were no casualties and no flooding. That was my biggest fear," said Asya Ilkova.

Iva Dimitrova and her husband live in Tampa Bay. They evacuated to Atlanta in time and are now monitoring the condition of their Tampa home online via their home camera:

"Luckily there's no major damage - as far as I can see, one of the cameras still has a signal. A huge tree came down across our yard. The neighbours told us that no trees had fallen on the actual houses, which was our biggest concern. But we don't really know what we're going to find when we get home. The problem is that now all the people who have evacuated are trying to get home and there is no petrol at the gas stations and the traffic is huge," said Iva Dimitrova, adding that there is a large Bulgarian community in Tampa and at least so far none of our compatriots have been hurt.

Photos: Reuters, personal archive

Posted in English by Elizabeth Radkova