The Physical and Emotional Pain Lasts Long After the Repairs
Having survived a CAT Four hurricane years ago, each new storm reminds me of that trauma.
First, you see yards littered with unending damaged furniture and salt-water-soaked drywall. Then, you are drawn to their eyes. There is fear and sadness in the faces that never go away. They are exhausted from cleaning up and talking with endless insurance company personnel. They have not slept or eaten well in days. As you enter what is left of the storm survivors’ homes and witness the carnage, you start to understand the depth of the trauma.
The above photograph was taken on October 5, 2024, in the Harbor Isles neighborhood of St. Petersburg, Florida. A category-four (out of a maximum of five) storm, Hurricane Helene, landed in Florida's sparsely populated “Big Bend” area. About 100 miles to the south, the same storm impacted my city and the most densely populated county in the state—Pinellas. The storm surge was a record 8–9 feet about mean low tide.
This surge seems small compared to the 15-foot wall of water that came ashore in Perry, Florida, well to our north. But many homes, businesses, apartments, and condos sit on or very close to the water. When high tide occurred around midnight on September 27, massive flooding resulted.