Residents of the Bahia Vista Gulf condominium complex had just completed digging out from Hurricane Helene when they were faced with the same difficult cleanup from new damage caused by Hurricane Milton.
After Hurricane Helene, beach units were incinerated, treated and drained, and sand blown from the beach was removed. Then, less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton struck and destroyed all the progress.
“They have to start the whole process again, cleaning, sanitizing, bringing in drying equipment, drying them all and refurbishing,” lamented Bill O’Connell, a board member at the Venice complex, about an hour’s drive away. To prepare for.” South of Tampa. The second storm “brought all the sand back onto our property.”
Some longtime Floridians have become accustomed to the annual cycle of hurricanes that can devastate and disrupt life in a state known mostly for its mild weather, sunshine and beaches.
“It’s the price you pay to live in heaven,” O’Connell said. “If you want to be here with this view, beautiful sunsets, want to 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. Are.”
A large portion of the state was still reeling from damage from the unusual double whammy of storms in such close proximity. Many residents, some of whom were returning home after being evacuated, spent much of Saturday (October 12, 2024) searching for gas as the state faced fuel shortages.
President Joe Biden surveys the devastation along Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sunday (Oct. 13, 2024). After the aerial tour and briefing, Mr. Biden said he was grateful that the damage from Milton was not as severe as officials had anticipated. But he said it was still a “catastrophic” event for people in the storm’s path.
At least 11 people died when Milton struck as a Category 3 hurricane, causing flooding in Central Florida, inundating barrier islands and spawning deadly tornadoes. On Sunday (October 13, 2024), Lindsey Baer, director of operations at the Citrus County District Medical Examiner’s Office, confirmed that one person had died after a tree felling accident.
Officials say the death toll could have been much worse had there not been mass evacuations. In total, more than a thousand people were rescued.
In the fishing village of Cortez, a community of 4,100 people southwest of Tampa, Katherine Prout said she and her husband Mark felt “pure panic” when Milton threatened Cortez shortly after Helen, prompting them to Was forced to stop my cleaning and evacuate. Fortunately, their house was not damaged by the second storm.
‘This is where we live’
“This is where we live,” Katherine Prout said of her 36-year-old Lower House, which had to be evacuated, gutted and cleaned up after Helen. “We just hope the insurance company will help us.”
Residents of the community’s simple, single-storey wood and stucco-fronted cottages worked Saturday (Oct. 12, 2024) to remove broken furniture and tree limbs, piling debris on the street as they watched Helen Did it after.
A similar scene was seen in Steinhatchee, west of Gainesville, where there were piles of debris on the roads.
Melissa Harden lives less than a block from a restaurant and neighborhood bar that were reduced to rubble. His home is on 16-foot (4.9-m) pilings, but is flooded with 4 feet (1.2 m) of water. When Milton was given the forecast, he feared that Steinhatchee would be hit by its third hurricane in 14 months.
“Personally, I thought, if that happens, we’ve already evacuated and our house is pretty much a mess,” she said as friends and relatives helped clean up, removing bathroom fixtures and Took out the damaged boards. “Of course we didn’t want this! No more storms!”
Moody’s Analytics estimated on Saturday (October 12, 2024) that the economic costs from the storm would range from $50 billion to $85 billion, including property damage of more than $70 billion and economic output losses of up to $15 billion.
Governor Ron DeSantis said Sunday (Oct. 13, 2024) that the state is shifting about 3,000 workers to debris removal as the recovery accelerates.
“We have a lot of work left to do, but I think the debris mission is something important,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Treasure Island, a city located on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. Affected by both recent typhoons.
DeSantis cautioned that debris removal could take up to a year, but said the state will try to make as much progress as possible because President Joe Biden has approved 100% reimbursement for that effort during that time.
“Debris removal should be 24/7 during this 90-day period,” DeSantis said, speaking near piles of furniture, wood and other debris. “That’s how you get things done.”
The state has also worked to reduce fuel shortages that have resulted in long lines at gas stations. DeSantis announced nine sites where residents could each get 10 gallons (37.8 L) for free.
According to Poweroutage.us, fewer than 800,000 Floridians were still without power at noon Sunday (October 13, 2024).
According to Ryan Mau, a private meteorologist and former chief scientist for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 3.4 trillion gallons (12.87 trillion liters) of rainfall fell from Milton in Florida. They calculated that 20 trillion gallons (75.7 trillion liters) fell from Helene in Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Florida.
National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Close said the rivers will “continue to rise” for the next several days and result in flooding, mostly around Tampa Bay and to the north. Those areas received the heaviest rainfall, coinciding with intense heat that included numerous typhoons.
“There’s nothing you can do except wait,” Close said of Rivers’ crippling condition. “At least there’s no rain in the forecast, no substantial rain.”
published – October 14, 2024 11:29 am IST