Newsletter Update - Milton Edition

October 2024 Hurricane Milton Edition

So, you’ve probably noticed a lack of posts on my social media and articles. For those who follow me, you already know I live in the Tampa Bay area, which was just hit by the first major hurricane to hit the region since 1921. I have some small hobbies as a history nerd, and I've been interested in the history of major hurricanes for a long time. My mom has told me a million times how I was a baby when Hurricane Hugo struck Puerto Rico and left us with no power for a while. I also remember the 2004 summer of hurricanes when historic storms constantly pounded Florida. However, Milton was the most worried I was about dealing with a tropical cyclone.

One thing that I’m used to as someone who has lived around tropical storms and hurricanes all my life is the reaction of people who don’t deal with them. They tend to overreact to tropical storms or Category 1 hurricanes, and I get it because I myself have never seen a tornado or dealt with an earthquake, and those are things that I just know scary stories about. However, major hurricanes (starting with Category 3) are legitimately scary storms. Even worse, I’ve long known and have warned my fellow Tampa Bay residents that a major hurricane hitting the area would be potentially as catastrophic as Hurricane Katrina. FEMA has a direct hurricane hit in Tampa as one of the top ten worst emergencies for the organization on their list. It became even worse when Milton reached Category 5 and peaked at 180mph with a 897 mbar, an extremely rare and ridiculously powerful storm. Only four recorded Category 5 storms have hit the U.S. mainland - the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, 1969’s Camille, 1992’s Andrew, and 2018’s Michael. I thought I would be a part of history and Milton would be number five. I packed the family and pets and went north to a safer, more modern house my parents lived in.

Thankfully, the storm went a bit more south and didn’t bring its worst side (the right side of the eye) to Tampa Bay. Tampa avoided a Katrina-level flooding event but still got hit so hard that it experienced what is known as a 1-in-1,000-year rain event. When I finally got the chance to go home, I saw fallen trees and blocked roads due to flooding in the one-hour drive. My neighborhood got hit had. We have many trees around here, most of which fell; one even destroyed a parked car. Some roads were flooded. Luckily, my street was blessed and didn’t get flooding or fallen trees. The worst damage we got was the inside patio in our carport getting a tear (but that always happens during bad storms, I got to fix it). But, even as we got lucky it doesn’t mean the recovery is easier. The neighborhood sidewalks are lined up with cut tree stumps and leaves as the city slowly picks up the damage. After nearly two weeks off, my daughter’s school finally opened. Of course, there is also the stress of cleaning up and unpacking.

Through all of this, I have kept up with things in the gaming space. I wanted to write when I was at my mom’s house, but I never got the chance, and quite frankly, I wanted to focus on ensuring my family was safe. I did get to hang out with some family and drink some beers, which was a good way to keep my mind off the storm. I also was supposed to be off that week from work, so my staycation was canceled, and I’m still a little bitter about it. But now, as things slowly get back to normal, I’m ready to get the 1UP Vault going. We have a strong end to the year coming up, and quite frankly, I need the distraction with the stress of an election and other personal things coming up.

So, next week, I’m going to aim to release three articles. My hope is that my social media and newsletter get going again, and I can just talk gaming to help me move past the stress I’m in. While I wait for Dragon Age, I started playing Control. I’m really liking it so far. I’ve also finished The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which I will review soon.

It’s been a hell of an October already, so l hope I end it with a bang.