POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida mother of four feared for her and her kids' lives as flood waters rose in her Polk County home early Thursday morning, according to a report from WFLA. Hurricane Milton ripped through the state, making landfall in Siesta Key late Wednesday night.
"I called my mom and said I think me and my children are about to drown to death," Amber Henry said.
When she heard about the evacuations, Henry relocated to Lakeland from the Tampa Bay area.
"I thought that Lakeland was the safest place to come because it was considered more inland, instead of like the Bay Area where my family is," she added.
The mother of four described the terrifying moments when the flood waters started to rise in her home. She called 911, but emergency crews could not reach them.
Her family had been sitting in the dangerous flood waters since 9 p.m. on Wednesday night.
"So it got up, and when it got all the way up the window, it got up the window, and it started coming in the house from the window, and the refrigerator started floating. I turned out the power, and my children and I hopped on the oven," Henry added.
She and her four kids were rescued before the flood waters rose to the oven.
As she moved her children to a neighbor's house, she signaled for help, and a WFLA news crew helped them get to safety.
A good Samaritan also used his car's headlights to show the family a path out, according to the report.
Initially a tropical storm on Saturday, Milton rapidly intensified in the following days. By early Monday, it had reached Category 2 strength, fluctuating between Category 4 and 5 before settling back to Category 3 as it approached land.
At its peak, Milton reached maximum winds of 180 mph. On Monday, Milton's max winds increased 95 mph in a 24-hour period, one of the highest increases ever on record in a 24-hour period, only to be topped by Wilma in 2005 and Felix in 2007.
Milton has since left the state of Florida but has left behind damage and destruction. Residents will be left to pick up the pieces from the storm in the coming days.