Someone Won The Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 Just Days After Getting Hit By Milton

There were many areas of Florida that took damage from Milton. Yet someone who felt fortunate enough to survive the hurricane, decided they'd let their luck roll: by buying a Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 ticket. And although their town saw flooding and damage, a bright spot emerged when that someone scored the winning ticket in the area just northeast of Orlando.

Hurricane Milton roared through Oviedo, Florida late Wednesday night through Thursday morning. The area experienced a Category 1 Hurricane Milton as it passed over the town. Although the storm had diminished in power, the area experienced wind gusts more than 89 miles per hour plus a lot of rain. Thirteen inches of rain, causing the Gee Creek, Howell Creek and the Little Econlockhatchee River to experience major flooding. More than 900 people were huddled in emergency shelters, over 100 roads were blocked, and around 50,000 households were without power.

Perhaps while others were cleaning up or picking up some post hurricane supplies after the storm, someone instead hit up the lottery counter inside the Publix to pick up a Fantasy 5 ticket. There is precedence to buying lottery tickets after a hurricane, I'll get back to that.

According to the lottery, a Florida Lottery Fantasy 5 ticket matching all 5 numbers on Saturday night's evening draw was sold at the Publix on Broadway in Oviedo, Florida. The ticket, which has not yet been claimed, is worth $59,593.47. It's nice to see someone in a hurricane affected area get a win. And this has happened before - on a much bigger scale.

Pamela Baker in Fort Myers, Florida won the Mega Millions Jackpot about a week after Hurricane Ian destroyed the area in 2022. That ticket, which was bought at a 7-Eleven that had recently pulled the boards of their windows, was worth $247 million dollars. She took the cash option for $126 million.