Women drive from Illinois to Florida to save 93-year-old grandmother in Milton’s path

A woman and her mother drove a total of 54 hours to take their family member out of Hurricane Milton’s path.

Jennifer Seaman and her mom, Sue Schaffnit, began to worry about Schaffnit’s mother who was living in Venice, Florida, in an assisted living home. 

Seaman’s grandmother, 93, was located just south of Sarasota, Florida, where residents were affected by the Category 3 hurricane landfall. 

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Seaman told SWNS that she and her mother wanted to make sure their family member was safe during the storm — but all flights out of the area were full. 

“Around 9:00 p.m. [Oct. 6] when things started to get more severe, I was talking to my mom,” she said, adding, “We were back and forth on the phone, checking flights, but everything was booked.”

An hour later, the pair decided to get in the car and drive from Peoria, Illinois, to Venice and pick up Grandma themselves.

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Seaman said, “I went to my mom’s house, and we spent about five minutes deciding what we were going to do and went. We didn’t pack bags or have a change of clothes.”

The two women spent 20 hours driving in the car before arriving in Venice — a 1,210-mile journey. 

Seaman said the home her grandmother was staying in had planned to shelter in place and encouraged the residents to stay through the storm. 

“I think for my mom and I, if something bad was to happen or if the storm was to take a massive turn and wipe people out, the last thing we wanted was my grandma to have died without family with her,” she said. 

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After picking up Grandma, the women got back on the road to leave Florida — sitting in gridlocked traffic for six hours while only moving 100 miles.

“As we were getting out, the storm was picking up intensity,” Seaman told SWNS. 

The three of them found a hotel outside of Atlanta, Georgia, where they checked in for a three-hour power nap, according to the outlet.

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After that, they got on the road and drove the remaining way back to Illinois.

Seaman told SWNS that her grandmother was “very relieved” to leave before the hurricane hit, but wants to get back to Florida. 

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“She is anxious to get back and see how everything is, but we have seen the flooding in Venice and the power is out, so we can’t contact her assisted living home,” Seaman said. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to Seaman for additional comment.