Her home on St. Pete Beach flooded with nearly 4 feet of storm surge from Hurricane Helene. On Sunday, when her two sons heard that Hurricane Milton could hit Tampa Bay as a major hurricane, they drove a UHaul from Orlando to help pack their mom’s waterlogged home.

Tampa Bay has not been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921, and authorities fear its luck is about to run out.

Two weeks ago, Hurricane Helene “spared” the Tampa Bay region a direct hit and yet storm surge still caused catastrophic damage, flooding homes, drowning people who decided to stay near the coast and leaving massive piles of debris that still sit along roadsides.