- On Tuesday, Oct. 8, Sarah Lutzker and her husband determined to evacuate their residence in St. Petersburg, Fla., with their cats and 15-month-old daughter
- After driving for three-and-a-half hours, the household realized they'd minimal fuel left within the tank, with no close by fuel stations open, so that they circled
- After an nearly two-hour drive again to their residence, Lutzker posted a video on TikTok explaining their state of affairs, which has since garnered 6.4 million views. She and her household are secure following the storm
When Sarah Lutzker and her husband discovered concerning the severity of Hurricane Milton, they determined to go away their residence in St. Petersburg, Fla. On Tuesday, Oct. 8, they packed their automotive with necessities, together with their cats and child provides for his or her 15-month-old daughter. After reserving a lodge in Atlanta, they hit the street round midday for the seven-hour drive.
Although their GPS confirmed no visitors initially, that quickly modified, and their automotive ultimately got here to a standstill in heavy congestion. After ready for practically 4 hours, Lutzker, 27, and her husband, Jeff, realized they'd minimal fuel left within the tank, with no close by fuel stations open.
“I remember us saying it's 135 miles home, or we keep going straight,” Lutzker tells PEOPLE solely. “With so much traffic, we're still in the hurricane path. If we run out of gas, we'd be stranded somewhere unsafe, with no hotels available. So it was either push forward in search of gas or turn back home.”
That’s when the household, who moved to Florida from Long Island, New York, simply two months in the past, determined the most suitable choice was to flip round and check out to experience out the storm as safely as doable.
“It was scary,” Lutzker says. “Deciding to turn back was tough. Packing everything made me think about all the things we might lose that we care about.”
“I needed to call my mom because she tends to worry, and I wanted her advice,” she provides. “But honestly, there was no good advice she could offer; it was just a tough situation with no clear solution. So we looked at each other and said, ‘This sucks, but we'll do everything we can to be okay.' ”
Sarah Lutzker
After a one hour and 45 minute drive again to their residence, Lutzker posted a video on TikTok explaining their state of affairs; the clip has since garnered 6.4 million views. Reading by means of the greater than 9,000 feedback, she expressed how significant it's to obtain good ideas and prayers from individuals.
“And then there are some comments saying, ‘You're going to die,' and I'm like, I really don’t want that negativity,” she says. “So I just delete those. Then you have people criticizing our decisions, saying we should have left earlier or done things differently.”
She continues, “It's frustrating because they don't understand our situation. They claim we weren’t prepared enough, but honestly, it’s hard to prepare with limited resources and time. We're not lifelong Floridians used to hurricane season. We're doing the best we can — just give us a break!”
She provides that their space wasn't below obligatory evacuation since they're about one mile inland from Tampa Bay. It was extra of a call they made to strive to go away, though their residence complicated despatched out an e-mail urging residents to evacuate.
“I don't think we left too late. It’s not a decision that could have been made earlier, especially since it really wasn't a Category 5 yet. The airport closed at 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning. It’s not like we could have just hopped on a flight, and even then, the flight prices were thousands of dollars for one seat. I keep saying it’s truly a privilege to be able to evacuate at all. My family and I had the means to do so, but not everyone is as fortunate.”
After the hurricane made landfall Wednesday evening, Lutzker shared some updates on TikTok. In her most recent post, she confirmed how she may see the broken roof of Tropicana Field from her residence.
“I love St. Petersburg for its parks and waterfront walks, but after the Hurricane Helene, the parks were completely devastated — there were boats on land, and some were just demolished,” Lutzker says. “I think this experience may show us that settling down here permanently, especially buying a house, might not be the best idea.”
On Thursday morning, PEOPLE made contact with Lutzker, who shared that “All is good. Definitely some damage in St. Pete but my family is safe and we don't have water but we do have electricity.”
