Former Mass. residents brace as Hurricane Milton slams Florida [Video]

As Hurricane Milton slammed the Florida coast, Newscenter 5 checked in on former Massachusetts residents who were bracing for the storm.Officials in Florida spent days urging residents to evacuate, before the Category 3 hurricane made landfall near Siesta Key on Wednesday night.Bobby Pero, a former resident of Beverly, Massachusetts, has seen his fair share of hurricanes since moving to Naples, Florida. However, this time he knew it would be much worse.”You just don’t know with hurricanes,” Pero said. “You gotta be smart be safe and do the right thing.”Former Massachusetts resident Steve Groh shared a similar perspective, as Hurricane Debbie nearly flooded his Clearwater, Florida home in August.”We’re pretty experienced with hurricanes here and we know when to leave and when not to leave,” Groh said.”This time, he evacuated, not taking any chances.”There was no question anymore, because this thing was going to build so big,” Groh said.Time-lapse video from …