CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Residents of Florida’s west coast headed to South Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton, with the massive storm expected to devastate their hometowns.
Many are fleeing with their pets and are seeking out pet-friendly hotels. One of those hotels is the Loews Coral Gables Hotel.
Local 10 News spoke with residents who came to the hotel, located at 2950 Coconut Grove Drive, with their families — some multigenerational — and their pets Wednesday.
“We heard this side of the state was going to be spared and (the hotel was) dog friendly, of course, and they’ve been so wonderful,” Cara Simas, who fled Sarasota, said.
Nadim Barrage, the hotel’s general manager, said staff have seen an uptick in reservations in the past 48 hours. Most evacuees came from the Tampa and Sarasota areas.
“As you relocate your family, you want to relocate your entire family, and pets are part of that family, so we certainly pay a lot of attention to it,” Barrage said.
Noon report:
Another evacuee, Marcus Gruner, fled the Tampa area. He’s originally from Miami and his family experienced Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Now, his family’s home is once again facing a storm.
“We decided to come down here Tuesday morning, and we’re wearing out the storm. And we remember Hurricane Andrew from living in Miami. We remember Hurricane Helene from two weeks ago,” Gruner said. “My sister had significant damage (from Helene), so her neighborhood had four-and-a-half to five feet worth of water. And I’ll leave it at that. So we’re just hoping that everything gets better.”
Evacuees are now left to watch and wait from afar.
“It’s so mixed, because you feel like you’re in a bubble here right now. And I just keep checking in with everybody. Most of my neighborhood stayed. My best friend’s on my block, and she’s there, hunkered down (with a) generator and I believe they’ll be fine,” Simas said. “It’s new construction, which we’re grateful for, but it’s the unknown when it’s going to hit and what you’re going to find when you get back and when we can get back.”
MILTON EVACUEES IN SOUTH FLORIDA: Samantha Mahoney is one of several from the Tampa and Sarasota areas finding community at the pet-friendly @Loews_Hotels in Coral Gables. Families who say their thoughts remain with friends and family who stayed. ▶️: https://t.co/ynmGolYBF4 pic.twitter.com/fsaYRdacx6
— Christina Vazquez (@ChristinaWPLG) October 9, 2024
Evacuee Samantha Mahoney said she too has friends who decided to stay on the west coast.
“They have generators, luckily, but just hopefully everyone stays safe,” she said.
Some of the families staying at the hotel have already begun to befriend one another.
The hotel has also opened a game room to keep evacuees occupied.
Another hotel accommodating pets and evacuees is the Nautilus Sonesta Miami Beach, located at 1825 Collins Ave. on South Beach.
“They saw the south was a little more clear and they started to head out our way,” Carlos Garcia, the hotel’s general manager, said.
Evacuees in Miami Beach:
Victoria Prazuch came from Venice with her three dogs to ride out Milton in what’s expected to be a safer environment.
“We had cops going around our neighborhood, knocking on doors, encouraging us to leave,” Prazuch said. “I started getting really worried because my house is right at the border of flood zone A and B. And then all my neighbors during Helene, like they completely got flooded too.. So ultimately we were like pulling the plug and just leaving.”
She added, “I was gonna go to Georgia, but then a lot of people were saying that like the traffic there is like 15 hours just to get there, so then like why not just go to Miami?”
Both the Sonesta, the Loews and another South Beach hotel, The Betsy, are among the hotels offering special rates for evacuees.
FOR THE LATEST UPDATES, visit Local 10′s hurricane page, the weather page for the hourly local forecast, sign up for the free Talking Tropics newsletter and download the free tracker mobile app on the Apple Store or Google Play.