Two Nights in a Hotel With Our Dog, Trying To Reason With Hurricane Milton

Learning from Koda what the circumstances revealed

Picture provided by the author

First, our dog, Koda, is smarter than I am.

He was in my car before I decided to evacuate. Aussiedoodles are known for having human eyes and human-like smarts, including intuition.

This was the first evacuation in my life. I always rode out the tornadoes in the Midwest and had been doing the same here in Florida for the last 3 years.

But oddly this one felt different. A Category 4 hurricane named Milton.

Hurricane Milton — decisions that must be made

The last hurricane to directly hit Tampa, FL was 1921, 103 years ago. I guess we should have suspected it was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

I had to make decisions, fast.

My wife and youngest daughter had been in Chicago for a family event. They would stay there.

So, it was going to be Koda and me.

Second, do I evacuate?

Koda had already decided as he was in the backseat of my car napping.

Evacuate.