Hurricane Helene: Minnesota native under evacuation order ahead of landfall

MN native speaks on Florida hurricane evacuation

A woman native to Minnesota is sharing her experience from St. Petersburg, Florida, as mandatory evacuation orders force her to flee her new home. FOX 9 reporter Rob Olson has the full story.

(FOX 9) - A native Minnesotan is bracing for the storm as Hurricane Helene approaches Florida's Gulf Coast.

What we know

Kenzie Stein, a Minnesota native now living in St. Petersburg, Florida, is preparing for Hurricane Helene. While the storm is still hundreds of miles away, it's rapidly intensifying and is expected to arrive late Thursday.

"It’s just overcast, it’s not raining... the water you can see is calm," Stein said, describing the calm before the storm.

By Wednesday morning, Stein received a mandatory evacuation notice. She plans to head inland to Orlando.

"There’s a little bit more breeze than normal... because normally there’s not a breeze," she added.

Background

Stein, who grew up near the Twin Cities, moved to Panama City Beach last year, where her neighborhood was damaged by a tornado in January. Now, less than a month after relocating to St. Petersburg, she's facing another natural disaster.

She joked about her situation, saying, "I think I’m bad luck."

According to Stein, she can’t yet qualify for flood insurance because she’s been in her new home for less than 30 days. "So that’s fun," she laughed.

Context

Along the Gulf Coast, residents are making preparations for damaging winds and potential flash flooding. Stein’s sister, who was visiting from Minnesota, is hoping her flight back home on Wednesday is unaffected.

Stein said, "She told me she’d never move to Florida because of the hurricanes... so she was here for my birthday, and here comes a hurricane."

This is Stein’s first hurricane since moving to Florida, she says she’d prefer a Minnesota blizzard. "This is new, this is different, and scary... when you see the big red swirls that take up a huge part of the globe, it’s a little terrifying, I’m not going to lie."