CEDAR KEY, Fla. – Sue Colson, a retired nurse, said on Sunday that the residents of Cedar Key, the island where she serves as a mayor in Levy County, were frustrated after Hurricane Helene.
There wasn’t water to put out a fire. Debris threatened clam farms. There was saltwater intrusion in the water wells. There were power outages. There wasn’t a working water and wastewater service, and there weren’t enough portlets.
“I can’t have volunteers on the island if I can’t have a place for them to go to the bathroom,” Colson said.
Judy Borbitt, a longtime Cedar resident, described the scene as she surveyed the damage left behind by the storm.
“There’s devastation everywhere you look,” Borbitt said. “Homes are gone that were there before. Some of them, we don’t even know where they went.”
6 p.m. report:
As the storm surge rushed in, first responders captured the moment it began. The water surged up, reaching 8 feet in some areas.
“It makes you just wanna cry. I mean, excuse me. It’s terrible, these people are hurting,” Borbitt added.
Before Helene hit, business owners scrambled to save what they could, moving items to higher ground.
Hannah Healey, a local shop owner, emptied her store, even tearing down parts of her walls to protect her property. However, the water’s force lifted floors and burst doors open, causing extensive damage. Some of her neighbors weren’t as lucky.
“It’s extremely sad, but I haven’t got time to worry about sad,” said Colson.
Crews are now racing to restore power, a critical need in the small town.
First responders and the National Guard have arrived to assist, setting up supply stations for residents returning to assess the damage. Borbitt, like many others, is facing the daunting task of repairing her home.
“All of the flooring has to come out,” Borbitt said. Still, she remains determined to rebuild. “If we get another one that bad, you may have to reconsider, but not now. We’re staying.”
5 p.m. report:
Standing water and debris was not only challenging in Cedar Key. FEMA was active in six states.
Helene’s storm surge was catastrophic even before it landed as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend. It was to blame for deaths in other parts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. The flooding was destructive even in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters on Saturday it was “like a bomb went off.” There were ongoing search and rescue missions amid billions in damage.
With power restoration efforts underway and recovery just beginning, Cedar Key residents are bracing for a long road ahead.
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INTERACTIVE SLIDERS
Satellite images by Google Maps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show areas before and after Hurricane Helene in Florida’s Taylor and Levy counties. Slide the middle bar to see the changes.
DEKLE BEACH
DARK ISLAND
KEATON BEACH
CEDAR KEY
STEINHATCHEE
FISH CREEK
BIRD ISLAND
EZELL BEACH
Sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite images on Maptiler with OpenStreetMap, Google Earth and Google Map views, and Knightlab JuxtaposeX (Opensource code)
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