Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
PEOPLE ACROSS FLORIDA are evacuating the state ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall, including many Irish-Americans.
The Category 5 storm, due to hit the south east of the United States in the coming hours, is set to be one of the strongest storms to hit the country in decades.
Near-record winds of up to 165 miles per hour (270 km/h) are expected in some areas. The region is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene, which caused devastation less than two weeks ago.
Update 1400 AIR FORCE RESERVE #HURRICANE HUNTERS FIND THAT MILTON'S INTENSITY
— National Hurricane Center (@NWSNHC) October 8, 2024
HAS REBOUNDED...
...TODAY IS THE LAST FULL DAY FOR #FLORIDA RESIDENTS TO GET THEIR
FAMILIES AND HOMES READY AND #EVACUATE IF TOLD TO DO SO...
For more information visit https://t.co/0qJ2lutNUL pic.twitter.com/7in3ARodB9
Irish woman Mary Kealy, who lives in the Tampa Bay area, said Helene caused huge damage but Milton is expected to be “much worse”.
Mary told The Journal she and her family have “never really totally panicked” with storms in the past, but this is different.
“We have evacuated for the first time,” she said, speaking from an Airbnb in Savannah, Georgia.
Attention Irish citizens in Florida: Hurricane #Milton is now a Category 4. Its projected path will impact much of Florida. Please follow the advice of local authorities, including regarding evacuations, follow expert official advice & stay safe. See: https://t.co/y5vLqjitNL pic.twitter.com/E4hU5DNL3B
— Irish Consulate Miami (@IrelandCGMiami) October 7, 2024
Milton could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over 100 years, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century. God willing it won’t be, but that’s what it’s looking like right now,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
“You should evacuate now, now, now. You should have already evacuated. It’s a matter of life and death, and that’s not hyperbole,” he said.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has just landed in Washington DC for a bilateral meeting with Biden at the White House on Wednesday.
The meeting is still expected to go ahead, but a reception for invited guests at the White House Rose Garden being “postponed” due to the incoming hurricane.
Mary is originally from Castlebar in Co Mayo, but has lived in the US for many years. She lived in New Jersey for some time, before moving to Florida in 2018 to retire.
She and her partner, Mike Kane, live in a town called Dunedin in the Tampa Bay area.
Tampa is expected to suffer an influx of water up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) above ground, and rainfall of up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) is expected to cause severe flash flooding.
Mary and Mike decided to evacuate on Monday and are now staying in Savannah after driving across state lines.
One of her daughters, Kara, lives nearby in Tampa Bay with her husband Michael and their two young sons, Milo and Henry. They are also now in Savannah.
Speaking to The Journal, Mary said many of her friends and neighbours are still dealing with the aftermath of Helene.
“We had Hurricane Helene two weeks ago. I’ve never seen anything like it, that was unbelievable.
And this is supposed to be historical, you know, much worse than that. So I can’t even imagine.
“Until this year, we really haven’t experienced storms that are like this.”
Mary and Mike didn’t leave their home during Helene as they were not in the direct path of the storm.
In fact, Mike grew up in Dunedin and this is the first time in 60 years that he has ever evacuated due to a storm.
“This is the first time I’ve ever left… I mean, this one scares me. All the rest have not, this one does,” Mike told us.
[Storms are] a part of life growing up in that area. But when you get something historical like this, you know, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of fate.
Mary said they “spent the last week helping friends clear out their entire homes” after the damage caused by Helene. Many people’s belongings are outdoors, meaning flying debris will be a massive issue when Milton hits.
“We’ve just gone through this. We have friends that we’ve helped relocate. People are still without homes, people are sleeping in their cars.
“Every single thing in their homes is on the streets. Entire neighborhoods were wiped out.
“There’s mattresses, you name it, everything – nothing can be saved because of the mould and bacteria. So now the biggest fear is of everything just flying all around the place.”
Mary said, in some neighbourhoods, “everything in the house is out on the front lawn”.
There’s going to be flying projectiles everywhere. Even if you think you’re safe, there are just so many unknowns, uncertainties.
Mary said the drive to Savannah would normally take about six hours but, due to the huge volume of people leaving Florida, it took them close to 13 hours this time.
“It was bumper-to-bumper traffic, eight miles an hour through the entire state last night.”
Mary said the family is going to stay in Savannah until at least Friday, but are waiting to see how things pan out.
She said most of their friends and neighbours have already evacuated, but a number have chosen to stay at home for various reasons – some don’t want to leave because they can’t bring their pets with them.
The main thing is, of course, that the family is safe. But Mike said the unknown of what damage may be caused to their homes, and their wider community, is taking a huge toll.
“Not knowing what you’ll be looking at when you come back, that’s tough mentally for a lot of people,” he said.
“You don’t know what you’re coming back to.”
Contains reporting from © AFP 2024
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I’m a heterosexual male, so i don’t watch Reality TV.
@David Field: not even the manly programmes, ice road truckers, forged in fire..etc.
@Clare Power: i used to watch Deadliest Catch years ago but tbh, these days, I hardly watch any TV. Chewing gum for the eyes Dougal.
@David Field: yeah I hear ya, feck all on..
@Clare Power: Some really good cookery programmes on.
@Clare Power: the ice never breaks in ice road truckers
@David Field: any sport is reality TV, Elton Field.
@David Field: ya unlike dowl internet tis GR8 doom scroll all day
Looks like good craic, but I can’t understand the crying. Always wanted to have a go at the Crystal Maze…
@honey badger: Paranoia, eh.That ceasefire isn’t worth the blood its been signed off with.
@Pól Pot: What’s the alternative?
@honey badger: There ain’t none. Israel will wipe them from the land incrementally.
@Pól Pot: They won’t, though. Ffs.
@honey badger: Foolish man.
Huge news with everything going on in the world right now…
@Ckeego: why not just move on to an article that interests you? It’s the same as you seeing a message on a notice board in a supermarket and calling the number to tell them you have no interest in what they are offering! Move on
Loved Anna’s outfits. So fun and colourful!
Omg!! Talking nineteen to the dozen on the uncloaked show! Had trouble keeping up with her!
Seems like a fairly lame show to me the one time I watched it
More claptrap!
19 comments. Amazing how many watch tv these days.
The Irish version will be rubbish. Like the Irish version of Strictly or Gogglebox the contestants will be dire and the programme an embarrassment.
No deal with the Islamists, end them all.
@Alex: It is their right not to change, the non Muslims must change or die and be tolerant of those who will not change. Would make a reality programme traitors and a fight to the death.
@Alex: There has to be a deal. For the sake of everyone involved. There is, however, no future involving lasting peace whilst the Islamists govern Gaza. I was very heartened to see so many young men in clean clothes, new uniforms, looking healthy, with fresh haircuts celebrating their victory and promising more October 7ths. Not the usual results you’d associate with a genocide. Odd that.
@honey badger: And still you support a far-right regime that is guilty of war crimes and the collective punishment of the Palestinian people (your backing of Ukraine looks increasingly odd and random given that you care nothing for human rights).
‘Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere are naturally relieved that these merciless Israeli bombardments will soon stop. But celebrations are tempered by fears about the future, and by deep grief and anger over the still terrifying present and immediate past. According to Gaza health ministry figures, more than 46,000 people have died there since the 7 October 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks killed over 1,200 people. The true Palestinian death toll may be even higher.
‘Most of Gaza’s 2.1 million population is displaced. Most of their homes and neighbourhoods are in ruins. Most are short of food and water. Hunger, bordering on famine, is a daily menace. Hospitals and the healthcare system have been smashed. Tent cities have sprung up where real cities once stood. Gangs roam and steal. Children are perhaps the biggest victims. Those who survive are traumatised. The world’s abject failure to halt this slaughter of innocents will not be forgiven or forgotten.’
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/16/ceasefire-deal-gaza-netanyahu-trump-peace
@Brendan O’Brien: That’s why Hamas cannot be allowed to be the government of Gaza anymore. I’m sure you agree.
@Brendan O’Brien: Starting a war is unleashing hell.
@thomas molloy: Yes, but that does not imply carte blanche for one side to kill unlimited numbers of civilians. International law forbids that (as does moral law).
@honey badger: As I told you before, I would prefer not to see terrorist organisations such as the Netanyahu regime and Hamas anywhere near power.
@Brendan O’Brien: As I told you before, no October 7th, no horrific war. Hamas plan on repeating the pogrom too. Let’s hope they don’t.
@honey badger: Israel’s pogrom against Palestinians was exponentially larger and went on for 15 months rather than one day, but you gloss over that completely because of the ethnicities of the victims and perpetrators.
@Brendan O’Brien: Are we there already? You don’t like my opinion, so you hail mary something about ethnicities? Even by your standards, that is pathetic. Hamas can’t be allowed to remain in power. No October 7th pogrom. No horrific war.
@honey badger: It is obvious that ethnicity must be a factor, otherwise you could not pitch ~1500 civilian lives as being more valuable than tens of thousands. Ethnicity is the only difference.
I’ve explained to at you at length concepts such as personal responsibility for our actions. You can’t or won’t understand. A stone wall would have a more sensitive moral compass.
But I will continue to call out your shameful obfuscations as I see fit, because such things can’t be allowed to go unchallenged if the world is to have any kind of worthwhile future.
@Brendan O’Brien: It’s not obvious at all. I’ve never assigned more value to any life. This is you doing you. I’ve always simply stated Hamas started the war. Hamas could and should have surrendered many times and released the hostages. They chose not to. The onus is on Hamas as they launched the war. It’s that simple.
@honey badger: Of course it’s not that simple. As I point out above, the mere fact of who started a war does not imply carte blanche for one side to kill unlimited numbers of civilians. International law forbids that (as does moral law).
Sounds like being a sincere politician in Ireland being hunted as game by people after your job.
First world problems
@Oh Mammy: And in ‘the first world’ too! That must really surprise you. Are the LA fires a problem in and of ‘the first world’ also? Don’t tell me. You’d re-define ‘first world’ to suit your unsupported, illogical argument?
seeking attention woman that would show up soon in other shows until she get money and fame. Burk !
have your say