205: Ber was hit by a flying tree

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Here in Florida, we know about hurricanes. My wife Jeanne and I will never forget Hurricane Elena back in 1985. That storm came into the Gulf of Mexico and just hovered offshore. There were instructions to evacuate because of the danger of high winds and flooding. What made it interesting for us is that Jeanne was pregnant with our first child, and she was at full term. So while everyone else was either leaving town or getting to a safe place, we evacuated to the hospital. That was on Saturday, August the 31st and that’s when our baby was born. Everyone said if it was a girl we should choose the name Elena, after the hurricane. Instead, our son’s name is David. A few months ago, in the hurricane season of 2024, we had Hurricane Milton to deal with. Since it was headed directly for where we live, we left town with our dogs and spent the week up in Jacksonville. We came back and discovered that, unlike some other people, we had no damage and no flooding. But not everyone fared that well. My guest today is Ber. She lives about an hour or so from me, in a rural part of Florida called Dade City. She’s been through lots of hurricanes. But after what happened to her with Hurricane Milton, she probably won’t go venturing outdoors at the height of the storm any more. Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/205 (for the pictures of Ber’s injuries, you will need to go to that URL and scroll all the way down – past the transcript – to see them. They are graphic.) Ber’s GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ambers-recovery-and-farm-restoration Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: Go to bluenile.com to shop Blue Nile, the original online jeweler since 1999! Follow “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories” on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/WHATWAS and get on your way to being your best self. To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/WHATWAS Sign up today at https://www.butcherbox.com/whatwas and use code whatwas to get chicken breast, salmon or ground beef FREE in every order for a year, plus $20 off your first order. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/WHAT Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week. Go to Seed.com/what and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month. Go to storyworth.com/what to save $10 on your first purchase! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Here in Florida, we know about hurricanes.
0:05.0	My wife Jeannie and I will never forget Hurricane Elena back in 1985.
0:13.0	That storm came into the Gulf of Mexico and just hovered offshore.
0:18.0	There were instructions to evacuate because of the danger of high winds and flooding
0:24.5	What made it interesting for us is that Jeannie was pregnant with our first child and she was at full term
0:32.9	so while everyone else was either leaving town or getting to a safe place, we evacuated to the hospital.
0:40.3	That was on Saturday, August the 31st, and that's when our baby was born.
0:47.3	Everyone said if it was a girl, we should choose the name Elena after the hurricane.
0:52.3	Instead, our son's name is David.
0:56.8	A few months ago, in the hurricane season of 2024, we had Hurricane Milton to deal with.
1:04.9	Since it was headed directly for where we live, we left town with our dogs and spent the
1:10.5	week up in Jacksonville.
1:12.5	We came back and discovered that, unlike some other people, we had no damage and no flooding.
1:20.4	But not everyone fared that well. My guest today is Burr. She lives about an hour or so from me in a rural part of Florida
1:31.3	called Dade City. She's been through lots of hurricanes. But after what happened to her
1:39.3	with Hurricane Milton, she probably won't go venturing outdoors at the height of the storm anymore.
1:50.0	Real people in unreal situations.
1:55.0	The eerie silence when I walked in, and he's just staring at me.
2:00.0	I was like, hello, like, are you okay?
2:02.7	And then I had to tell him it was me.
2:06.4	There was just blood everywhere.
2:09.3	They're shouting, they're screaming, they're being hit by bullets, they're hitting the ground.
	...

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