What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

205: Ber was hit by a flying tree

Feb 7, 2025

Amber Rocha, a resident of Florida, shares her shocking experience during Hurricane Milton, where she was unexpectedly struck by a falling tree, resulting in severe injuries. She reflects on her traumatic ordeal, including the chaos of the moment and the emotional turmoil that followed. Amber discusses the importance of community resilience, the urgent response from her loved ones, and the lessons learned about safety during natural disasters. Her story captures the unpredictable nature of hurricanes and highlights the strength found in adversity.

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ANECDOTE

Hurricane Elena

Scott Johnson and his wife Jeanne will never forget Hurricane Elena in 1985.
Jeanne was full-term pregnant with their first child, David, and they evacuated to a hospital.

ANECDOTE

Hurricane Milton Evacuation

During Hurricane Milton in 2024, Scott and Jeanne evacuated to Jacksonville with their dogs.
They returned to find their home undamaged, unlike others.

ANECDOTE

Life in Dade City

Amber, nicknamed "Burr", lives in Dade City, Florida, with her wife Stacy, who is from Ukraine.
Stacy's family, including her mother and grandparents, still reside in Ukraine.

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Here in Florida, we know about hurricanes.

My wife Jeanne and I will never forget Hurricane Elena back in 1985. That storm came into the Gulf of Mexico and just hovered offshore. There were instructions to evacuate because of the danger of high winds and flooding.

What made it interesting for us is that Jeanne was pregnant with our first child, and she was at full term. So while everyone else was either leaving town or getting to a safe place, we evacuated to the hospital. That was on Saturday, August the 31st and that’s when our baby was born. Everyone said if it was a girl we should choose the name Elena, after the hurricane. Instead, our son’s name is David.

A few months ago, in the hurricane season of 2024, we had Hurricane Milton to deal with. Since it was headed directly for where we live, we left town with our dogs and spent the week up in Jacksonville. We came back and discovered that, unlike some other people, we had no damage and no flooding.

But not everyone fared that well. My guest today is Ber. She lives about an hour or so from me, in a rural part of Florida called Dade City. She’s been through lots of hurricanes. But after what happened to her with Hurricane Milton, she probably won’t go venturing outdoors at the height of the storm any more.

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/205

(for the pictures of Ber’s injuries, you will need to go to that URL and scroll all the way down – past the transcript – to see them. They are graphic.)

Ber’s GoFundMe page:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ambers-recovery-and-farm-restoration

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

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