Chilean stuck in Tampa by Hurricane Milton: “It’s like experiencing the end of the world”

The windows are covered with wooden panels and almost no daylight enters . Out absolute silence but your cell phone rings from time to time with alerts from the United States government telling you that you need to prepare for the arrival of the dangerous Hurricane Milton .

“Urgently complete your preparations to protect your life and property,” the screen read.

This is how the Chilean journalist’s day began Lorena Miki (37). It’s in a house in Riverview, right next door Tampa Florida —one of the red zones which would be one of the most affected by the meteorological event – where he spent the last weeks of his vacation.

Their suitcases were ready to return to Chile, but His flight was canceled due to poor forecasts. . Desperate to escape, she decided to buy another flight that left earlier with the help of her mother, who was waiting for her in Santiago with her four dogs.

But as he stood in the middle of the road leading to the airport, he realized he wouldn’t be able to make it.

Hundreds of thousands of cars are stuck on the road many of them are in a frenzy to evacuate the area that will receive the impacts of the strong hurricane which, according to the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC, for its acronym in English), will make landfall as a “potentially fatal” phenomenon.

“I can say without dramatizing at all: If they decide to stay in one of these evacuation zones, they will die ” warned the mayor of Tampa, Jeanne Castor further alerting the population of the west coast of Florida.

Lorena de la Rosa — the real name of the official Comic Con host, Lorena Miki — decided to take a two-week vacation to relax after her busy life in Santiago.

To be close to Disney, the park he dreamed of going to, he took accommodation in Riverview, a neighborhood right next to Tampa.

It was like “an escape trip.” Only those close to me knew that I had come because I needed it, I was bad and I needed to be good, to have a disconnection. “I was going through things and I needed a vacation,” says the journalist The Third .

The two weeks went as I had planned, but just trying to return to Chile life surprised her by having to lock herself in her home for at least a whole week, to protect yourself from one of the largest hurricanes in US history .

“I guess it’s not my year and I don’t give more,” he shared on his social networks.

The day his flights were canceled, he spent the entire morning trying to communicate with the airline, which gave him no answers about what would happen to his money and his flight: “They treated me very bad, I waited about 45 minutes. with funeral music, no. “They helped me at all at Copa Airlines.”

The story with Despegar wasn’t like that. “I was served by a gentleman who, honestly, took my hat off. He helped me, he was super nice, he calmed me down because I was hysterical, I didn’t know what to do. He helped me cancel my ticket, because there will only be flights from October 14 “.

This procedure being ready, he began the adventure of go to a collapsed supermarket with people scared by the arrival of the hurricane . The first thing he noticed was that there was no water available because they had taken everything.

“I bought noodles, rice… I felt strange about the situation because it’s something we never experience in Chile. However, the truth is that I’m very scared “, he says The Third .

“For me, it’s like being in a movie. I imagine the neighborhood WandaVisionat West View, stuck and unable to get out . It’s a very strange thing. Maybe for people here, hurricanes are like earthquakes. “.

However, the host says that “I see the desperation of the people who cover the windows. I don’t know how to react, I’ve only seen this in movies “.

“I saw the neighbor next to the house where I was crying desperately. A few days ago, people started going to supermarkets to buy water and taking huge full cartons with them. . That’s why they are sold out and we have to wait for them to be restocked the next day.

He also found that gas stations could not cope with the number of cars arriving: “It was impressive. Yesterday there was no more gasoline. So it’s really complicated. It feels like we’re living at the end of the world “.

Lorena Miki had brought enough dollars for her two-week stay, but now that it was extended, she needed to activate her card to purchase food and supplies, and lock yourself in until the hurricane passes .

He also had to cancel several jobs he held in person in Santiago. But he still has time to reach one which, he assures, cannot be missed even by the end of the world.

“The most important thing for me is that at the end of the month I will host Comic Con again, which for me is the biggest event of the year, it’s my cheesy Viña Festival. I have to do the wardrobe fittings, see the fabrics with the designer…” she says of the tasks that will have to wait for her return.

Until her escape on October 14, the journalist He will be behind the wooden panels that protect him watch series and films and try to distract yourself from the dangerous phenomenon that will occur near you.

Of course, pay close attention to your cell phone and government alerts to know what to do and when it’s time to evacuate. “They are super resilient and explain what to do in English and then in Spanish,” says Lorena.

“I’m sorry. It’s just horrible “. With these words, tears began to flow from the eyes of the American meteorologist. John Morales who explained on television what it would be like for Hurricane Milton to pass through Florida.

The hurricane crosses the Gulf of Mexico and reached category 5 which means that will produce “catastrophic damage” due to winds of up to 257 kilometers per hour .

According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Milton will make landfall Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. .

This will mean “an increased risk of life-threatening storm surges and damaging winds for parts of the Florida peninsula,” they explained from the newspaper. National Weather Service UNITED STATES.

Additionally, using the same words as Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Hillsborough County Fire Chief Jason Dougherty said people who have not yet evacuated the highest risk areas “could die.” .

“My men and women could die trying to save them. They are heroes, but don’t put them in this situation,” he asked the residents in danger.

Castor added that it should be a “wave, rain, wind event, and if it continues on the expected trajectory, We are here facing the storm of more than a century with Milton “.