Rant #3,552: We Gotta Get Out of This Place

Good luck to all of those in Florida.

Hurricane Milton looks like the real deal, making Hurricane Helene look like a weak sister in comparison.

And with a good portion of the state decimated by the prior storm, this newst storm could not have come at a worse time.

Tampa, Orlando and several other prime spots are almost certain to be hit, and what makes it even worse is that the hurricane is set to begin its wrath in the middle of the night.

It reminds me of Hurricane Charley, which hit Orlando head on in 2009.

The reason I remember that hurricane so well is that my family and I were on vacation--yes, in the outskirts of Orlando--when the storm hit that August.

And I remember that it was terrifying.

We were at our time share that we had at the time. 

We were told to bring in all the outdoor furniture that was on our patio, and to lock our doors and stay in.

My family prepared pretty well.

Our car had plenty of gas--the lines were outrageous--and we had plenty of food in our villa.

So we stayed in and prepared fir the worst.

I remember that not only was it dark out when Charley came, but the Hurricane literally made it pitch black outside, the darkest black I have ever seen.

We completely lost power, so we were in the pitch black, and I used a fully-charged DVD player for light.

And when Charley hit, it was loud, so loud that there was no way you could sleep through it; in fact, I stayed in the living room that night, just to make sure nothing was blown out by the ferocity of the storm, and my wife and son stayed in the bedroom.

I only hoped that the next morning, my car would still be where I parked it and wouldn't be damaged.

Happily, somehow, the three of us got to sleep for an hour or two, and when the morning came, my car had a lot of displaced shrubbery around it and on top of it, but nothing more.

We were located just out of Orlando, so we were spared the worst of the storm ... but Orlando did get hit head on.

We drove around, and the decimation was quite apparent.

I remember the only thing opened the next morning was Burger King, and the lines we waited on to get inside the restaurant were blocks long--

Made up of New Yorkers on vacation, just like us.

But we survived, as did the state.

Milton appears to be another matter altogether, and I hope Florida can pull through once again.

With so many family and friends there, I wish everyone good luck ...

And the faster Milton exits, the better.