This connection certainly wasn’t in the forecast.
Every June when the Atlantic hurricane season officially kicks off, the World Meteorological Organization releases their list of names for the upcoming storms — leading some inquiring minds to scan the monikers for any possible personal associations.
This year, two names that would end up dominating, if not defining, the tumultuous hurricane season — Milton and Helene — caught the eye of Floridian Bryna Widlansky.
Widlansky’s late parents share the same name as Milton and Helene, Nos. 8 and 13, respectively, on the list of 21 storms.
Fast forward roughly four months, Milton and Helene Aronoff, described by relatives as “loving and kind,” would be “mortified” and “appalled” if they were still alive to see the devastation wrought by the back-to-back natural disasters, their relatives told The Post Thursday.
Both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton have packed a fatal one-two punch, causing billions of dollars in damage and leaving millions without power, officials said. Helene killed more than 200 people across the southeast while Milton has claimed the lives of at least 12 victims in Florida, according to reports.
“You always look at all the names,” said Widlansky, a Fair Lawn, NJ native who raised her family in south Florida. “I couldn’t believe these names and that they both hit.”
“It’s just unbelievable — these two names are always going to be associated” with crippling devastation, Widlansky added.
“I thought, ‘I’m glad they’re not here – they’d be so embarrassed,’” another daughter, Davidene Alpart, told The Post. “They’d never want to hurt anybody.”
The couple were married for 57 years before Milton Aronoff died in January 2005 at the age of 83, while Helene died in February 2021 at 93, according to their obituaries.
The pair, who had three kids and six grandchildren, started their wedded life together in the Garden State owning a restaurant, but endured their share of hurricane seasons after moving to Delray Beach in Florida in the 1980s.
When Hurricane Helene made landfall in late September, the couple’s relatives didn’t bat an eye about it being named after their mother. But in the terrifying buildup to Milton, the coincidence couldn’t be ignored.
“It’s absolutely insane that it worked out this way,” said grandson, Josh Widlansky, who lives in south Florida and fortunately made it out unscathed during the storms.
While Helene Aronoff was remembered as “strong,” she would “never hurt or kill anybody,” Alpart said.
Widlansky added her mother had a “strong personality,” but she was also “charitable” and “always cared about people.”
Meanwhile Milton Aronoff never liked asking for directions, so “he would probably get lost and it would wind up in the ocean,” Apart said lightheartedly. He served in World War II before meeting his future wife at the YMHA in 1947.
“They’re spared — they wouldn’t want to be infamous,” Alpart continued.
“They were against anything that hurt anybody. They just wanted to be together and enjoy the family — they were all about family.”
Both of them did everything together, including working at their Chicken Delight restaurant in Fair Lawn, NJ. Milton was known as “Mr. Chicken.”
The Aronoffs were “true partners” who “really didn’t fight,” Bryna Widlansky recalled.
While the Aronoffs’ kin have been horrified by the hurricanes’ havoc, they’ve tried to look at the odd fate philosophically.
“We try to look at it as poetic,” said Alpart. “It’s just ironic that Helene and Milton are together again.”