As Hurricane Milton approaches the Florida coast, many in that region are still reeling from the damage left from Hurricane Helene just over a week ago.
Among them is Talia Hansen, who was born and raised in Montana before she moved to Georgia to get away from the expensive costs of housing.
Hansen said she's never seen anything quite like Hurricane Helene.
"The wind was howling like 115 to 125 miles per hour pretty continuously," Hansen said in an online webcam interview Tuesday morning. "The rain is really bad. You can't see anything. It's just a lot of really scary noises happening around you."
Hansen said the uncertainty of these wild storms is the hardest part.
"You don't know how it's going to impact you as an individual," said Hansen, who lived in both Livingston and Billings before moving southeast. "You don't know how it's going to impact your friends or your neighbors. You don't know if you're going to make it out okay or if you're going to lose everything."
Hansen's home was directly in the path of that storm, so she and her fiance fled to stay at a family's home in the area not surrounded by as many trees.
"I was terrified," Hansen said. "I mean, being from Montana, I never had to worry about things like a hurricane."
Their decision to not stay in their own home proved to be the right one. When they arrived back at their home the day after the storm — after navigating an hour of traffic from downed trees and power lines — they found their home cut in half by a tree that had collapsed.
"Seeing that just like the demolishment of a lot of the things that you worked really hard for and you've made like life changes for is pretty heartbreaking," Hansen said.
That devastation was felt by many around the region and with Hurricane Milton now fast approaching the Florida coast, more damage is likely on the way.
"It's going to be catastrophic around the Tampa Bay area," MTN Meteorologist Miller Robson said Tuesday afternoon. "The winds of course and then the flooding beyond that."
Robson spent the majority of his life in Georgia before moving to Montana and encountered many hurricanes during his time there. He predicts the storm to hit landfall as a category three even though it currently sits at a category four.
"It's going to be a big storm," Robson said. "And if it does what the models predict it'll be the biggest storm in the Tampa area in 100 years."
Robson added that the quick turnaround from Helene to Milton could become a huge issue for residents in that area.
"It's a rare situation for them and my heart goes out to them," Robson said. "A lot of prayer for those folks down there still cleaning up from Helene, who probably are not going to get the job done quick enough before this next one comes in."
As of now, Hansen is on the outskirts of Milton's path, which she hopes remains true as they continue to pick up the pieces.
"We're tired. We're really tired of it," Hansen said. "Things are just starting to get back to normal and now, you know, having the looming threat and the imminent danger that comes with a storm like that, it's hard."
Still, Hansen is doing her best to keep everything in perspective.
"It's all going to be replaceable," Hansen said. "It's just stuff. We can figure it out. Fortunately, we're all safe and that at the end of the day is what's most important."
Related: Helene brings catastrophic flooding, demands huge rescue and cleanup efforts
