A Western Pennsylvania native, college student and Florida visitor all brace for Hurricane Milton

Kyle Swan evacuated from the Tampa area Wednesday morning after official notice that his family’s Sarasota, Fla., home would be in the path of impending Hurricane Milton.

“It was very worrisome,” he said. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a Category 5 hurricane.”

The storm was at Category 3 strength by late Wednesday afternoon, with its central winds at a sustained 120 mph.

“If Milton stays on its course, this will be the most powerful hurricane to hit Tampa Bay in over 100 years,” the National Weather Service said.

Swan, 28, lives with his wife, Samantha, who is originally from Scottdale, and their 9-month-old child.

The family evacuated about 15 miles inland to Parrish, Swan said, where he feels safer.

“Where we were going, traffic was actually very light,” he said, describing the scene as eerie. “Everywhere was shut off — everywhere was closed.”

Roads have been backed up in Florida as people evacuate, according to social media posts, and some people have had trouble finding gas.

Swan said he had gotten gas a couple days ago, so he didn’t have any issues.

“As a homeowner and an adult with more responsibilities, it’s just scary,” he said. “I haven’t seen a storm like this since Hurricane Charlie in 2004, when I was, like, 10.”

He said he and his wife don’t know what to expect after Hurricane Milton subsides.

“We don’t know what we’re anticipating when we go home — that’s the scary part,” Swan said. “We’re kind of just hoping for the best and expecting the worst.”

For Madison Borkovich, who goes to the University of Miami Law School, the atmosphere has been “really strange.”

“It’s very still,” said Borkovich, 23, of Indiana Township. “It’s almost eerie.”

She’s on fall break supposedly until Monday; she hasn’t heard whether the return to classes will be affected. Students in other programs at the University of Miami who are still in classes this week received notice that classes are canceled for the time being, she said.

Borkovich will be staying in Miami throughout Hurricane Milton, and she’s heard from relatives and friends up north who are concerned. Though she doesn’t know exactly when it will hit her area, she went shopping Wednesday.

“The stores are crazy,” Borkovich said of her shopping trip for toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and other goods. “It was wild.”

Register lines were extremely long, she said, and brands of certain items were out of stock. However, perishable items like meat and fruit were still in stock.

Borkovich also didn’t have trouble getting gas, as she said she went to a small gas station instead of a popular one.

She’s mainly concerned about the water rising.

“I don’t want everything to be under water,” Borkovich said, citing Florida’s flat roads that often accumulate puddles. “Even though it rains here all the time, they’re not equipped to deal with heavy rain.”

Shawna Johns, while not a Florida native, has been considering moving to the state. She’s on vacation in Cocoa, Fla.

Johns, 37, of Leechburg, is visiting family friends. They have not attempted to evacuate since they’re on the Atlantic side of the state. Hurricane Milton is coming from the Gulf side.

“Our friends have a brick home with hurricane windows, so we feel pretty safe staying,” she said.

Johns is supposed to return home Sunday.

“Hoping we don’t run into any damage on the way since we drove,” she said.