VENICE, FL — No sooner had residents of the Bahia Vista Gulf condominium complex dug out of Hurricane Helene than they were faced with the same massive cleanup effort due to the new damage caused by Hurricane Milton.
The beachfront units had been stripped, treated and dried out after Hurricane Helene and the sand piles brought in from the beach were removed. Then, less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton rushed in and undid all progress.
“They have to start the whole process again: cleaning, sanitizing, bringing in drying equipment, letting it all dry and getting it ready for renovation,” lamented Bill O’Connell, a board member of the complex in Venice, about an hour away. south of Tampa. The second hurricane “brought all the sand back onto our property.”
Some longtime Floridians have gotten used to it annual cycle of storms that can destroy and upend lives in a state best known 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 these views, beautiful sunsets, 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 successive storms is still considered part of the state comes with damage of the unusual double storm attack so close. Many residents, some of whom returned home after being evacuated, spent much of Saturday scrambling for gasoline as a fuel shortage gripped the state.
President Joe Biden planned to visit the Gulf Coast on Sunday.
Hurricane Milton has killed at least 10 people after it made landfall as a Category 3 storm and tore through Central Florida, flooding barrier islands and cause deadly tornadoes. Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for widespread evacuations. In total, more than a thousand people were rescued in the aftermath of the storm.
In the fishing village of Cortez, a community of 4,100 residents southwest of Tampa, Catherine Praught said she and her husband, Mark, felt “pure panic” when Hurricane Milton threatened Cortez so soon after Helene, forcing them to pause their cleanup efforts and to evacuate. Fortunately, their home was not 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 cleared, stripped and scrubbed after Helene. “We are hopeful that the insurance company will help us.”
Residents of the modest, one-story, wood-and-stucco-fronted homes worked Saturday to remove broken furniture and tree limbs, piling debris on the street as they did after Hurricane Helene.
A similar scene could be found in Steinhatchee, west of Gainsville, where huge piles of rubble lined the streets.
Melissa Harden lives less than a block away from a restaurant and neighborhood bar that were left in ruins. Her house is on 4.9 meter high stilts, but 1.2 meters of water still flowed in. When Milton was forecast, she feared the third hurricane in fourteen months would hit Steinhatachee.
“Personally, I thought, if it gets to this point, we’ve already been evacuated and our house is in pretty much disarray,” she said as friends and relatives helped clean up, remove plumbing fixtures and remove damaged shelves. “Of course we didn’t want that! No more storms!”
Moody’s Analytics estimated the economic cost of the storm on Saturday at $50 billion to $85 billion, including more than $70 billion in property damage and economic production losses of up to $15 billion.
In St. Petersburg, dozens of people lined up at a gas station without gasoline on Saturday, hoping it would arrive quickly. 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 gas is coming, but they don’t know when it will be here,” he said. “I have no choice. I have to sit here with her all day until I get gas.
Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state has opened three fuel distribution locations and plans to open several more. Residents can get 37.8 liters each for free, he said.
“Obviously when the power is 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 restocked area gas stations with the state’s fuel supplies and delivered generators to stations without power.
As the recovery continues, DeSantis has warned people to be cautious, citing lingering safety risks including downed power lines and standing water. According to figures from the US State Department, about 1.1 million Florida residents were still without power on Saturday evening poweroutage.us.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Paul Close said rivers will “continue to rise” in the coming days and will result in flooding, especially around Tampa Bay and to the north. These areas received the most rain, on top of a wet summer that included several previous hurricanes.
“There’s not much you can do but wait,” Close said of the rivers reaching their crests. “At least there is no rain forecast, no substantial rain. So we have a break from all the wet weather here.”
___
Farrington reported from St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press journalists contributing from Florida included Chris O’Meara in Lithia, Curt Anderson in Tampa, Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Terry Spencer outside Fort Lauderdale and Stephany Matat in Fort Pierce. Rebecca Santana from Washington, DC, contributed.
