Canto, along with her husband, Dennys, and their sons Damyan, 13, and Aayson, 11, battened down the hatches and weathered the hurricane in their home in Haines City, Florida, about 60 miles northeast of Tampa.

“The wind was howling,” said Canto. “It was very similar to a derecho that we had four or five years ago, but lasted 10 to 12 hours with wind and rain.”

Hurricane Milton is said to have had winds gusting between 76 and 92 mph on land and to have dumped 8 to 17 inches of rain in its path, causing flash flood emergencies.

Canto said their home and neighborhood experienced some damage and they were without power Thursday morning, but were thankful to be safe from the hurricane.

“We had lots of branches down,” said Canto. “Our privacy fence was down in some areas and our pool screens and cage were damaged. But it’s minimal damage compared to what the coast experienced.”

Canto anticipates being without power for at least a week due to the severity and broad path of the storm.

“The next few days we will be cleaning our yards and neighbors’ yards,” said Canto. “We will be without power for a while. Most gas stations are out of gas, so we will wait to hear when they are refilled so we can get more gas for our generator.”

Both Ashley and Dennys are former Fort Dodge Community School District teachers, now at Davenport Elementary School in Haines City. The couple spent Monday preparing their school building for the incoming storm, which is also used as a storm shelter for those who live in mobile homes and those who come inland from the coast.

“The kids might return to school on Monday, but we will not know for sure until probably Saturday,’ said Canto. “In Florida, school districts are by county. Our county has more than 200 schools. They have to make sure each school has power and is safe to return before they let us know when we can go back.”

Canto said she’s glad the storm is over and that they’re safe, but also that she’s glad to have planned and prepared ahead of time.

“If you wait for the last minute to prepare, all gas, water and many food places are empty,” said Canto. “We went shopping on Sunday to make sure we had all of our supplies. All of the grocery stores and most gas stations were closed yesterday before the storms hit.”

Canto said they plan to spend the next few days cleaning up storm debris in their neighborhood and helping others in need.