Determination to rebuild follows Florida’s hurricanes with acceptance that storms will come again

Milton damage. Image via City of Tampa.

No sooner had residents of the Bahia Vista Gulf condominium complex dug out from Hurricane Helene than they were faced with the same daunting cleanup from new damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton.

The beachfront units had been gutted, treated, and dried out after Hurricane Helene, and mounds of sand that had blown in from the beach had been removed. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton barreled in and undid all the progress.

“They’ve got to start the whole process over, cleaning, sanitizing, bringing in drying equipment, getting them all dried and prepped for renovations,” lamented Bill O’Connell, a board member at the complex in Venice, about an hour’s drive south of Tampa. The second hurricane “brought all the sand back on our property.”

Some longtime Floridians have grown accustomed to the annual cycle of storms that can shatter and upend lives in a state known primarily for its balmy weather, sunshine and beaches.

“It’s the price you pay to live in paradise,” O’Connell said. “If you want to live here with this view, beautiful sunsets, be able to go out on your boat, enjoy what Florida has to offer, you have to be willing to accept that these storms are going to come.”

The devastation of the back-to-back storms is still being tallied as a swath of the state comes to terms with damage from the unusual dual strike of storms in such proximity. Many residents, some returning home after evacuating, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.

Hurricane Milton killed at least 10 people after it made landfall as a Category 3 storm, tearing across central Florida, flooding barrier islands, and spawning deadly tornadoes. Officials say the toll could have been worse without the widespread evacuations. Over a thousand people were rescued in the wake of the storm.

In the fishing village of Cortez, a community of 4,100 southwest of Tampa, Catherine Praught said she and her husband, Mark, felt “pure panic” when Hurricane Milton menaced Cortez so soon after Helene, forcing them to pause their cleanup and evacuate. Fortunately, their home wasn’t damaged by the second storm.

“This is where we live,” Catherine Praught said of their low-lying home of 36 years that had to be emptied, gutted and scrubbed after Helene. “We’re just hopeful we get the insurance company to help us.”

Residents of the community’s modest, single-story wood and stucco-fronted cottages were working Saturday to remove broken furniture and tree limbs, stacking the debris in the street much like they did after Hurricane Helene.

A similar scene could be found in Steinhatchee, west of Gainsville, where enormous piles of debris lined the streets.

Melissa Harden lives less than a block from a restaurant and neighborhood bar reduced to rubble. Her house is on 16-foot (4.9-meter) pilings, but 4 feet (1.2 meters) of water still flooded. When Milton was forecast, she feared the third hurricane would hit Steinhatachee in 14 months.

“Personally, I thought, if it comes, we’re already evacuated, and our home is pretty messed up,” she said as friends and relatives helped with the cleanup, removing bathroom fixtures and pulling out damaged boards. “Of course, we didn’t want it! No more storms!”

Moody’s Analytics estimated on Saturday that the storm’s economic costs will range from $50 billion to $85 billion, including upwards of $70 billion in property damage and an economic output loss of up to $15 billion.

Scores of people lined up at a station in St. Petersburg that had no gas Saturday, hoping it would arrive soon. Among them were Daniel Thornton and his 9-year-old daughter Magnolia, who arrived at 7 a.m. and were still waiting four hours later.

“They told me they have gas coming, but they don’t know when it’s going to be here,” he said. “I have no choice. I have to sit here all day with her until I get gas.”

On Saturday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that the state opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons (37.8 liters) each free of charge, he said.

“Obviously, as power gets restored … and the Port of Tampa is open, you’re going to see the fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.

Officials replenished area gas stations with the state’s fuel stockpiles and provided generators to stations without power.

As the recovery continues, DeSantis has warned people to be cautious, citing ongoing safety threats, including downed power lines and standing water. According to Poweroutage.us, some 1.1 million Floridians were still without power Saturday night.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Paul Close said rivers will “keep rising” for the next several days, resulting in flooding, mostly around Tampa Bay and northward. Those areas were hit by the most rain, accompanying a wet summer that included several earlier hurricanes.

“You can’t do much but wait,” Close said of the rivers cresting. “At least there is no rain in the forecast, no substantial rain. So we have a break here from all our wet weather.”

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.