‘It feels dystopian’: TikTok documents destructive rising waters and chilling preparations as Hurricane Milton hits Florida

Residents in Florida have taken to TikTok to document their dystopian preparations in the lead up to Hurricane Milton, the category three natural disaster that made landfall on the U.S. state in the evening hours of October 9. 

Naturally, tensions were high among Floridians for weeks, as officials warned of an incoming hurricane that would be among the most powerful and destructive we’ve seen in recent years. That feeling of dread was only heightened by the fact that, just two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene caused widespread damage across large parts of the US southeast. 

Hurricane Milton first made landfall in the coastal community of Siesta Key in south Tampa, and while there’s sure to be footage of the devastation caused in the coming days, we’ve already seen in the days leading up to the weather event just how harrowing this experience would be. 

Countless TikTok users have documented this experience on the video platform, with the hashtag #hurricainemilton already spawning over 150,000 posts. One viral clip taken before the storm hit land shows a shocked Floridian being mandatorily evacuated from their house by the police. “I’ve never been woken up like this,” the TikTok user wrote in the caption, “prayers for Florida!”. 

In another viral video, a Florida resident documented her rush home to retrieve her dog before the hurricane hits, with scores of cars seen on the other side of the highway queuing to evacuate. “Don’t be scared, Murphy,” the TikToker wrote, “Mom is coming for you! We’d never leave you behind all alone.”

Elsewhere, one TikTok sees a resident recount her initial plans to evacuate, only to revert home since there weren’t gas stations to fuel their route out of the city. TikTok is filled with users who are explaining their choice to hunker down rather than evacuate, as well as clips of the stormwaters already rising and tornadoes forming above farmland. 

One user documented their heartbreak in having to leave behind their cattle, while another showed a top-down view of the widespread traffic accumulating as residents scramble to evacuate in their cars. Five hours before the hurricane hit, one user documented her evacuation preparations and said the pre-storm “hasn’t weakened at all.”

Meanwhile, some users awoke to steady rains already falling in the early hours of October 9, or headed to Walmart to document the scores of empty shelves as people scrambled for resources. Others, days before the hurricane hit, showed themselves storm-proofing their properties or spending time with the animals they’d be forced to leave behind. 

The TikToks were the latest development as Florida braced for the hurricane, with one man going viral for his decision to stay home and another breaking down as he predicted the destruction that lay ahead.

Disappointingly, the natural disaster has been increasingly politicized in the midst of the presidential race, with Donald Trump lying about Joe Biden’s response to Milton and Marjorie Taylor Greene peddling conspiracy theories about its origins. 

Govenor of Florida Ron De Santis quickly debunked claims that the Biden administration had provided minimal support to the state, and of course, nothing out of Greene’s mouth should ever be believed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Florida residents in this harrowing time.