‘Complete obliteration’: Gov. DeSantis surveys beach ravaged by Hurricane Helene’s landfall

Florida’s Governor continues to review the wreckage wrought by Hurricane Helene, with a Saturday morning visit to where the storm made landfall in Taylor County.

“tktktk,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in Dekle Beach, where the Cat 4 superstorm slammed in on Thursday night, bringing a “really monumental” storm surge “in excess of 15 feet” and 140 MPH winds into an area that has seen three landfalls in 13 months.

“You see some homes that are now just rubble,” DeSantis said. “There’s a lot of damage that we’re seeing here.”

The Governor noted damage through the area exceeded previous storms, with “complete obliteration” for homes and, tragically, 11 storm related fatalities throughout the state … though none of them have been recorded yet in Taylor County.

“As hard as it is to see a home destroyed, as hard as it is to see someone displaced, if someone perishes, you can’t replace that,” DeSantis said.

Rescue missions are underway, he said, “all up and down the Gulf Coast of Florida,” with thousands completed.

457,000 accounts are still without power, DeSantis said, and he expects “those numbers to continue to go down over the course of the day.”

But some areas will take longer, he noted, due to the need to rebuild infrastructure.

“The counties that are most significantly impacted,” he said, were the one’s in Helene’s path.

Bridges and roads closed earlier in the week have been reopened, meanwhile, putting residents around the state on the path to normalcy.

But houses that were hard hit by the storm, he added, may not be inhabitable right away or ever again.

Kevin Guthrie, who heads the Division of Emergency Management, spoke also on Saturday. He urged people to be wary of unscrupulous contractors who might be looking to exploit people who suffered damage to their homes.

Regarding housing, Guthrie noted that the state’s home repair program is available to help people, with non-profit groups helping with “muck and gut” operations to help people “eliminate the mold and mildew.” Additionally, FEMA travel trailers are available for at least six months, but “permanent travel trailers on grade” are not permitted by Florida’s building code. Finally, FEMA’s direct housing program, which runs for 18 months, may be an option for some displaced people.

“We want to move you into some type of housing program immediately,” Guthrie said.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell extended sympathy from President Joe Biden and said she was on the ground to hear stories from affected people and to help move aid quickly from the federal government. She urged people to keep receipts for repairs and storm costs, as the federal government is reimbursing some costs.