Hurricane Milton’s widespread flooding and 120 mph winds left more than 3.3 million homes and businesses without power last week in Florida.
Most of the local residents evacuated ahead of the storm, but a few decided to face the hurricane head-on.
And Hurricane Milton’s deadly wind and storm surge were no match for this 76-year-old Florida man.
Hurricane Milton made landfall just two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused an estimated $34 billion worth of damage in Florida and created a 500-mile path of death and destruction across the southeastern United States.
Milton made landfall last Wednesday as a Category 3 storm near Sarasota County and brought flooding and 120 mph winds to the area.
The intense winds and tornados produced by Hurricane Milton ripped the roof off Tropicana Field and caused a crane to collapse.
Florida government officials enacted mandatory evacuations ahead of Milton’s landfall.
But the government cannot force folks to evacuate.
And 76-year-old William Fulford and his wife Sueann decided to ignore the evacuation orders and ride out Hurricane Milton in their home on waterfront property located right across the causeway from Bradenton Beach.
Fulford and his wife live in the first “net-zero” single-family home development in the United States.
According to CNN, “residents produce more energy from solar panels than they need, with the excess energy either being stored or sold back to the grid.”
But the homes are also created to withstand hurricanes.
Streets were designed in a way that they do not flood the houses and electricity cables are buried underground to protect them from wind damage.
The homes also include concrete walls with hurricane-proof doors and windows and “a layer of foam insulation, providing extra safety against the most violent storms.”
To prepare for the storm, Fulford moved his car to higher ground and stocked up on water and food.
He and his wife then used their elevator to move everything upstairs and out of the garage in case of potential flooding.
“I’m just quite convinced that the strength and everything in this house, they built a great house, a strong house,” Fulford said. “And I just feel comfortable, I feel like we’re high enough up, even if we get a storm surge.”
Milton left over three million Floridians without electricity.
But Fulford never lost electricity during the storm since the cables are buried underground.
“The solar power kicked in when the city’s grid went out, and we’re still running on solar power right now,” he said. “It charges up during the day and then powers us through the night.”
Fulford praised the homes as the way of the future and said, “the house never shook” and “the windows didn’t rattle.”
The area surrounding his neighborhood, Bradenton Beach, was not so lucky.
Fulford accredited this to the construction of the home and said this is the way of the future.
“I hope people take a hard look at all of this and start paying attention to what goes on here,” Fulford said. “Everything is changing.”
The homes in Fulford’s neighborhood are built to withstand the impact of a Category 5 hurricane.
Of course, a home like Fulford’s is not cheap.
The homes cost anywhere from $1.4 to $1.9 million.
Other normal homes in the area go far around $600,000 for comparison.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
