As Hurricane Milton barreled toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, a miracle unfolded in the midst of chaos.
Kenzie Lewellen and her boyfriend, Dewey Bennett, braced themselves not just for the storm, but for the arrival of their baby boy. At 4 a.m. Wednesday, with the hurricane looming, Lewellen went into labor at their Port Charlotte home.
“My mind was just running a million miles an hour, like, what am I going to do?” Lewellen said according to NBC News. For Bennett, memories of Hurricane Irma in 2017 added to the tension. His father had passed away during the storm when emergency services couldn’t reach them. “My dad had a massive heart attack because the ambulance could not come out to us during the storm,” Bennett shared.
Now, with his own child on the way, Bennett feared history might repeat itself.
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The couple faced another dilemma: their home was taking on water before Milton even made landfall. “If she didn’t start having contractions until during the storm, the roads would have been flooded,” Bennett said.
As the storm raged, Lewellen labored for over four hours before they embarked on a risky drive to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Her mother drove them cautiously through heavy winds and rain. At the hospital, only Bennett was allowed to accompany her, leaving Lewellen to FaceTime with her mom, a source of strength and comfort for her.
In the delivery room, Lewellen’s view of the hurricane was a surreal backdrop to the most intense moment of her life. As trees uprooted outside, the real storm came when she learned the baby was in the wrong position, requiring a cesarean section. In pain from epidural complications, she leaned on the hospital staff. “If I didn’t have the doctors and nurses that I had, it would have been a whole lot worse,” she said.
At 11:45 p.m., amidst the storm, their son, Dewey Lester Bennett IV, was born—a healthy, 8-pound baby boy. It was a moment of overwhelming relief and joy.
“He is a miracle baby,” Lewellen said, holding him close.
The timing of Dewey’s birth, in the heart of a natural disaster, serves as a reminder of something greater. No matter how big the storms of life are—both literally and figuratively—God is always bigger. As Psalm 107:29 says, “He made the storm calm, and the sea waves were still. They were glad because the waters were quiet, so He brought them to their desired harbor.”
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
