Hurricane Milton Tracker: Forecasts, Evacuation Orders, Maps

Candice Briggs was crammed into a car with her three young children somewhere on State Road 429, still hours from the hotel they had booked north of Jacksonville, trying to stay strong — she knew her children were watching.

Less than two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene sent a foot and a half of water into her family's home in the Tampa Bay community of Seminole, just across from the barrier islands of Pinellas County. The family had just settled into their temporary accommodation in another family member's house.

Briggs hadn't even finished her post-Helene load of laundry yet. And now she, her husband, children and 14-year-old Maltese Poodle mix must evacuate again.

“Most of the tears I cried were from exhaustion or gratitude. Just that we are safe and that we followed our instincts to evacuate,” Briggs said. “Above all, I am grateful. But I'm overwhelmed and exhausted. And it feels powerless.”

Briggs describes herself as a rule follower and is the mother of a 7-, 5-, and 3-year-old child. She has no qualms about following evacuation orders.

Still, Briggs' thoughts are on her storm-damaged home, where workers have already ripped out several feet of sodden drywall, leaving behind exposed beams. She fears they will be even more vulnerable to the massive wall of water that forecasters say Milton could unleash on this flood-prone stretch of the Gulf Coast.

“It’s very disheartening,” she said.

Even amidst the chaos and unrest, she tries to maintain a sense of normality for her children by playing pop music and counting cows and horses to keep their spirits up, as if it were an old road trip.

“I don’t know how long we’ll be out,” she said as they headed north again to avoid another storm. “And that’s difficult because little kids don’t understand it.”

“You want a countdown,” she said, “and I can’t give you that.”