RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia is both seeing residents from the Sunshine State arrive to avoid Hurricane Milton and sending people down to help out in the aftermath.
Iain Peters lives in Melbourne, Florida, a city east of Tampa on the other side of the state and drove up to stay with family in Chesterfield.
"Just the projected winds and rain in our area. We're in a pretty big flood zone being so close to the ocean," he said. "We only packed our car full of what we could and our most valuable stuff and came up here."
He added that while some of his friends with homes in the area are staying down there, he lives in a first-floor apartment unit and is concerned about flooding.
Colby Tomasello, who lives in the Richmond area but grew up in Tampa, said many of his friends and family are still down there and moving out of the storm's path if they can.
"A lot of my friends who live on the bay are going further inland," Tomasello said. "My folks are going back up to Gainesville, which is great that they have the means, of the ability to get out of dodge. But, I also know there are people that have to stay for whatever reason, and so, I'm hoping they get the support they need because it's dangerous. "
Tomasello added that he knows the state has been mobilizing a lot of resources.
"Hopefully, the storm dissipates and it's not as bad as we expect, but there could be a lot of damage. And I read reports that it could be in billions of dollars, which could have effects, obviously devastating short-term effects for people and their families, but also long-term effects when it comes to like real estate insurance prices going up -- which is a real struggle for people living in Florida as sort of these climate disasters become more common."
Meanwhile, some Virginians are heading in the opposite direction and are in Florida to help with the emergency response that follows.
Among them are members of Virginia Task Force 2, which already had a team deployed in North Carolina to respond to Hurricane Helene.
"It was absolute devastation," said Henrico Fire Lt. Amanda O'Neal, who serves as a Technical Information Specialist with the task force. "We're searching for people, we're checking houses, we're paddling down the river."
O'Neal, who has since returned home, was among 10 Henrico Fire workers deployed with VATF2. Nine are still on deployment and another is out with the Commonwealth of Virginia Incident Management Assistance Team.
She said the teams in both states are ready for whatever is asked of them.
"Everyone's in high spirits to do whatever they can for the local communities," she said "Whether that's in North Carolina or Florida -- they're definitely ready to continue helping the community."
The Virginia Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team is also deployed in advance of Milton. The team is made up of members of the Virginia National Guard and Chesterfield Scuba Rescue teams.
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And while Tomasello and Peters both expect some damage from Milton, they hope it is minimal and that people can remain safe.
"Hopefully, we're in a position to where it's not going to be a surprise," Tomasello said. "But, yeah, obviously, every life lost is unfortunate and hopefully we can avoid that as a state."
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