As Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall Wednesday evening, current and former Chicago residents prepare for impact.
Joseph Giuliano was a Chicagoland resident for decades. He lived in DeKalb from 2005 until last year, when he moved to Elgin where the beauty salon he owned and operated for more than 40 years was located.
But after he retired, Florida’s warmer weather and lower taxes appealed to him. So he decided to move to Homosassa, a town just over 70 miles north of Tampa.
Little did Giuliano know his move-in would be during a hurricane.
Hurricane Milton, one of the most intense storms seen in the Atlantic Ocean, is set to make landfall in Florida Wednesday night. The storm was a Category 3 storm as of late Wednesday afternoon, downgraded from its previous classifications but still expected to lead to major flooding up and down the Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Giuliano, 59, said he had planned to move this week as early as a month-and-a-half ago.
Even when he began his drive from Illinois last Saturday, arriving the next day, he said he didn’t reconsider his timeline. “I was completely set on this date,” he said.
