A Naperville businessman and former resident says he and his family are safe and sound after “hunkering down at home” during Hurricane Milton Wednesday night.
“The sound of the wind, it gets this whistling, howling sound,” Matt Doyle told NCTV17, describing the conditions outside as the storm drew near. “As bad as the winds were, it was pretty scary stuff, but I never had that fear that I did of a tornado.
About Matt Doyle
Doyle is known for bringing Santa Claus to Naperville, an initiative he started during COVID, and still does business in town with his branch of Cross Country Mortgage, but he now lives in Palm Harbor, Florida, about 40 minutes from Tampa and less than ten minutes from the shore. He and his wife chose not to evacuate with their children.
“We are in a non-evacuation area,” he said. “We are in one of the highest elevated areas in all of Tampa, especially for being that close to the water. As it got closer to us, it was a category three or category four.”
Doyle family remains in home, takes precautions
Instead, they took precautions to secure their home as best as they could.
“Just making sure we had enough of the essential supplies,” said Doyle. “We did board our windows up this time. I think I bought 15 sheets of plywood,” adding that he estimates spending more than $400 in plywood on Monday, two days before the storm hit. By noon that day, he says stores were already sold out.
Aside from some damage to their fence, the Doyles’ home remains practically unscathed. They are one of the millions of Florida residents without power to their home, however, but did prepare a generator ahead of time.
“We’re just happy that we’re here. A lot of people have just a bit of debris,” said Doyle. “And then people near the coast have a lot more water damage closer to downtown Tampa.”
Moving forward after Milton
Recognizing many have it far worse, Doyle says he’s continuing to help in the recovery efforts wherever he can.
“It’s a big community effort right now though. Food pantries are overrun right now and people are reeling from the cost of having to prepare on top of everything else that seems so expensive these days,” he said. “So it’s a real punch to the gut for a lot of people but it’s so necessary.”
Doyle says he’s blessed for his home and family to have been spared and they’re looking forward to returning to Naperville at the end of November for the holiday season and yes, even preparing to bring back Saint Nick, once again.
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