Tampa couple describes bumper-to-bumper traffic as they evacuated to Georgia

AccuWeather

A trip from Tampa to Atlanta that normally takes Brett Cassidy and Corrieanne Stein about six hours took double the time on Oct. 8, as they faced extreme traffic the entire way from Floridians fleeing Milton.

Transcript

00:00Florida roads heading north were full of people evacuating ahead of Hurricane Milton, that's still the case right now.

00:05And joining us now are two people who were on the road today, they have made it to Georgia.

00:09So we welcome Brett Cassidy and his fiancée, Corianne Stein.

00:13Thank you so much for making time for us.

00:15I know this is probably a little bit of an unnerving time for both of you.

00:21Oh yes, for sure, to say the least.

00:23Yeah, we understand that you were in Tampa.

00:26Do you own a home there or do you rent?

00:28And how close to the coastline?

00:30What made you two decide to evacuate from Tampa?

00:33We currently rent and we're about two blocks.

00:39Two or three blocks.

00:39Two or three blocks from the coast.

00:42Yeah.

00:44Yeah, so when we heard about storm surge predictions, we figured it was time to get on out.

00:48Well, that is always a good decision here.

00:51Again, it's just not worth the risk.

00:53So when did you hit the road?

00:55And how was the traffic?

00:56We've seen a lot of footage out there.

00:58Yeah, we got out this morning.

01:00We got out about 4.45 a.m.

01:03And traffic, the second we got on to 75 in Florida, traffic was bumper to bumper.

01:09Pretty much all the way north to Atlanta.

01:12Normally it takes us about six hours to get to Atlanta, six and a half hours.

01:17This time it took close to 12 and a half.

01:18We only stopped for gas one time and food one time.

01:23Wow.

01:24And Corianne, did you bring your pets?

01:27This is a topic that a lot of people are concerned about or at least looking for.

01:34Did you bring your pets with you?

01:37Yes, we have three cats and we threw them all in the car this morning and they made the journey great.

01:44They're settling into their Airbnb quite nicely for now.

01:48But yeah, everybody came with us.

01:50That's great.

01:51And sometimes it can be tricky to travel with cats.

01:55But what surprised you most on this journey?

01:57You said twice the length of travel time.

01:59Any other surprises?

02:00Yeah, the traffic really picked up the further out we got from Tampa.

02:06So and again, we left Tampa really early in the morning.

02:09So I'm sure it's going to be worse for people the closer to landfall they get to leaving.

02:15But I mean, even getting to Atlanta, traffic was bumper to bumper up here.

02:20It just got worse and worse and worse the further out we got.

02:23And lastly here, quickly, what are you most concerned about over the next couple of days?

02:28I know we've been talking here about your journey out of Tampa,

02:31but I know you probably did take precautions with your property there.

02:35What are you most concerned about?

02:38Flooding in our family's homes.

02:41Oh, yeah, friends and family for sure.

02:42Yeah, people who either their elevation is lower

02:46or because they're closer than we were to the coastline,

02:50just worried how their homes and how they're going to fare.

02:52Yeah, we're lucky we're on a second floor.

02:53So we're about we're about 15 feet up,

02:55but people people that we know they're right on the ground

02:58and everyone's right next to Bayshore.

03:00We're only a few blocks away.

03:02All right. Well, Brett Cassidy and Corey Einstein, congratulations on your engagement,

03:05whether that's very recent news or not.

03:07It's something to celebrate.

03:08We hope that you again find it a good time up there in Georgia

03:13as you ride out the storm in a much safer place.

03:15Thanks for joining us.

03:17Thank you very much.

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