STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Millions of people have been urged to evacuate Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall. Many of those drivers are coming to metro Atlanta in hopes of getting out of the pathway of the storm.
Mother-of-three Paulina Bolanos was one of those on the road. She made it to Stone Mountain early Wednesday.
Imagine hauling three kids, under three, over 300 miles.
Bolanos said the trip from DeBary, Florida, was supposed to take six hours, but thanks to Atlanta traffic, it nearly doubled.
“We left at 3:30 p.m. And we arrived at 1:07 a.m.," Bolanos said.
Bolanos' journey was exhaustingly long but worth it for her 2-year-old Mia and 5-month-old twins Luka and Lena. At first, Bolanos said she and her husband Kevin weren't sure if they wanted to evacuate, but then, she watched the news. Experts suggested having life jackets handy for the kids. That was the final straw.
“I kept picturing water getting in the house and my husband trying to figure out how we’re going to get out of here," Bolanos said.
Kevin stayed back. Bolanos packed up five days' worth of belongings -- with her young children along for the ride.
“I need them to sleep most of this ride. So, I let them cry, unfortunately," Bolanos said.
She used everything she could to entertain her toddler.
“I brought chocolate. I brought milk. I brought her iPad," Bolanos said.
However, when she made her first stop to change diapers, fill up her tank, and fill her children's empty bellies, she ran into another obstacle.
“[We] start looking for gas stations. We passed about eight of them — all out of gas," Bolanos said.
The drivers, she said, were the ones acting like toddlers, refusing to wait in line.
"There was a line at the Walmart. And my pump is on the right side. So, we got in line. And I was like, 'I'm going to take whichever line I don't care. I'll turn the car around.' And when it was our turn, we had to flip the car because the pump was on the other side. And some guy came and cut us off from the other side, And there [are] lines building from over here. So, my sister-in-law got out of a car, and she was like, 'Hey, listen, there's a line. Everybody's waiting for gas. We all need it.'And he was not budging; did not move," Bolanos said.
Once she made it to DeKalb County safely, her mind was still focused on home.
“I didn’t go to sleep until like three in the morning because I’m up thinking, 'Is my husband going to be OK? Is my dog going to be OK?'” Bolanos said.
Bolanos said her parents are down there as well, and her dad is close to Tampa. Regardless, most of the state is in the path of the storm. So, the uncertainty of the future of her Florida home still rattles her.
"The storm could pass over us and just have rain and wind and not do any damage. The storm could completely wipe us out," Bolanos said.
Bolanos said she has help from family. And if things got worse, her husband planned to fight the traffic to join her.