A Florida couple filmed themselves hunkering down in their bedroom with their adorable baby donkey and a slew of other animals overnight as they braced for Hurricane Milton.
Sara Weldon and her husband Rick Bass opted to try and ride out the hurricane after refusing to evacuate their farm in Clermont, located in central Florida between Tampa and Orlando, as Milton ominously approached the Sunshine State’s coast.
“We are in the direct path of where this hurricane is supposed to hit. We’re not evacuating. And please, don’t ask me to,” a tearful Weldon said in one video about their hurricane prep.
“All these animals are our children.”
The couple gave regular updates on their efforts to brace the storm, including keeping their tiny donkey, Cash, safe.
At one point, the furry foal could be seen nuzzled on the floor of the couple’s bedroom alongside their soaked dogs after the home lost power in the early hours of Thursday morning.
In other clips posted on their Our Simple Homestead account, dozens of chickens could be seen riding out the storm in a cage inside the couple’s home.
The couple had earlier addressed their refusal to evacuate their farm despite the dire warnings, saying they needed to remain behind to keep tabs on their dozens of farm animals.
“I alternate between feeling calm and then crying over my animals,” a tearful Weldon said in one video.
Milton slammed into Florida’s west coast Wednesday night as an extremely dangerous storm — bringing a “life-threatening” surge and catastrophic winds that left more than 3 million people without power and areas inundated with water.
About 90 minutes after making landfall, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm. By early Thursday, the hurricane was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 85 mph.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the couple’s farm sustained any major damage as the storm continued to pummel the state.
