Florida parents welcome 'miracle baby' born during Hurricane Milton's landfall
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SARASOTA, Fla. - The parents of a new baby boy are celebrating his birth, happening within hours of Hurricane Milton's Iandfall in Florida even as the family continues to mourn his grandfather, who died during another hurricane years ago.
Kenzie Lewellen and Dewey Bennett were anxious about Hurricane Milton's arrival and how it would impact their ability to reach the hospital near Venice, Florida, part of the mandatory evacuation zone. Lewellen's due date was Oct. 13, just a few days after Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane.
The expecting parents had an additional reason to be nervous about a major hurricane. Bennett's father, Dewey Bennett Jr., died during Hurricane Irma in 2017 when first responders were unable to reach him after he suffered a heart attack.
"The nerves were a little high. We were kind of stressed that we would not be able to leave to go to the hospital," Lewellen said.
Their baby boy had other plans. Lewellen went into active labor on Wednesday morning.
"It was very scary. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning, and I was having contractions. So they ended up admitting us to the hospital, and it was a lot of stress off of his shoulders," Lewellen said of her partner.
The first-time mom delivered her healthy baby at 11:44 p.m. ET, about three hours after Milton's landfall as the powerful storm charged across Florida.
"He's our little miracle baby because everything just worked out exactly how we wanted it to," Lewellen said.
The couple named their miracle hurricane baby Dewey Bennett IV after his father and grandfather.