Florida man rides two deadly hurricanes out in kayak
The death toll is rising after former hurricane Milton smashed the Florida coastline, with countless buildings destroyed and millions still without power.
But while many locals in the path of the powerful storm packed up and evacuated as soon as they could - some chose to stay and face it head on.
Matthew Heller went viral two weeks ago when he waited out hurricane Helene by sitting in a kayak in his living room and for Milton, he decided to do the same.
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Matthew waited Helene out in his kayak and decided to do the same for Milton. Matthew Heller
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"I kind of made a game time decision to hunker down here in my home, I took all the weather into account and I was tracking it the entire time," he told Today.
"I have a newer home that's all concrete block, I just replaced the windows and the roof so I felt really safe here and I decided to stay like this."
While Milton thankfully downgraded to a Category 3 system when it hit land, the powerful storm still brought dozens of tornadoes with it and intense flash flooding that is now endangering the lives of 11 million people.
But after what he experienced with Helene, Matthew said he found Milton was actually less intense.
"Helene came out of nowhere, I've never had that much water in my home before and I've lived here eight years and occasionally, during hurricane season, we get a couple inches," he said.
Matthew said it was like a ghost town in his neighbourhood. Today
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"Milton was a lot more pleasant, it was a lot of wind, a lot of loud noises, but I didn't have any water come in the home, and I didn't have any damage to the property, plus, I'm still here to tell the story - so it's a win."
Matthew said thankfully, there is just some plant debris around his property, but power is out everywhere and he is relying on a generator.
"I'm still the only person on my street, everyone else evacuated so I'm kind of the last man standing here - It's a ghost town," he said.
Hear the full chat with Matthew in the video above
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