TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — When ankle-deep floodwaters from Hurricane Helene bubbled up through the floors of their home, Kat Robinson-Malone and her husband sent a late-night text message to their neighbors two doors down: “Hey, we’re coming.”
The couple waded through the flooded street to the elevated front porch of Chris and Kara Sundar, whose home was built on higher ground, and handed over their 8-year-old daughter and a gas-powered generator.
The Sundars’ lime-green house in southern Tampa also became a refuge for Brooke and Adam Carstensen, whose house next door to Robinson-Malone also flooded.
The three families met years earlier when their children became playmates, and the adults’ friendships deepened during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. So when Helene and Hurricane Milton struck Florida within two weeks of each other, the neighbors closed ranks as one big extended family, cooking meals together, taking turns watching children, and cleaning out their damaged homes.
As Milton threatened a direct strike on Tampa last week, the Malones, the Sundars, and the Carstensens decided to evacuate together, driving more than 450 miles (725 kilometers) in a caravan—seven adults, six children, four dogs, and teenage Max Carstensen’s three pet rats.
“Everyone has, like, the chain saw or a tarp,” Robinson-Malone said Sunday. “But really the most important thing for us was the community we built. And that made all the difference for the hurricane rescue and the recovery. And now, hopefully, the restoration.”
Recovery efforts continued Sunday in storm-battered communities in central Florida, where President Joe Biden surveyed the devastation. Biden said he was thankful the damage from Milton was not as severe as officials had anticipated. However, he described it as a “cataclysmic” event for people caught in the path of the hurricane, which has been blamed for at least 11 deaths.
Nearly 800,000 homes and businesses in Florida remained without electricity Sunday, according to Poweroutage.us, down from more than 3 million after Milton made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm. Fuel shortages appeared to be easing as more gas stations opened, and lines at pumps in the Tampa area looked notably shorter. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced nine sites where people can get 10 gallons (38 liters) each for free.
While recovery efforts were gaining steam, a full rebound will take far longer. DeSantis cautioned that debris removal could take up to a year, even as Florida shifts nearly 3,000 workers to the cleanup. He noted that Biden has approved 100% federal reimbursement for those efforts for 90 days. “The (removal of) debris has to be 24/7 over this 90-day period,” DeSantis said while speaking next to a pile of furniture, lumber, and other debris in Treasure Island, an island city near St. Petersburg battered by both recent hurricanes. “That’s the way you get the job done.”
National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Close indicated that rivers will continue to rise for the next several days and may cause additional flooding, mostly around Tampa Bay and northward. Those areas received the most rain, which compounded a wet summer that had already included several hurricanes.
Meanwhile, residents unable to move back into their damaged homes were making other arrangements. Robinson-Malone and her husband, Brian, bought a camper trailer that’s parked in their driveway. They plan to live there while their gutted home is repaired and enhanced to make it more resilient against hurricanes. “These storms, they’re just going to keep happening,” she said. “And we want to be prepared for it.”
The Carstensens plan to demolish what’s left of their flooded, low-slung home, built in 1949, and replace it with a new house elevated above the ground. For the time being, they are staying with Brooke Carstensen’s mother.
Chris Sundar said he’s questioning his plan to remain in Tampa until his children have all graduated from high school a decade from now. His house remains the home base for the families’ kids, ages 8 to 13. On the wall, there is a list of chores for them all, from folding laundry to emptying wastebaskets. Brooke Carstensen, a teacher, has helped the children through an extended period without school.
The Sundars lost both their vehicles when Helene’s storm surge flooded their garage, so they drove Robinson-Malone’s car when they evacuated to Georgia. Arriving, exhausted after the 14-hour trek, Chris Sundar remarked to Robinson-Malone: “This is where community shines or it falls apart.”
On Sunday back in Florida, they worked together to remove sticks and logs from a large oak limb that dangled over another neighbor’s driveway. Brian Malone cut it up with a chainsaw. Tackling recovery as a cohesive group has made it feel far less overwhelming, Brooke Carstensen said. The families share tips and ideas on a group text thread. The Sundars even threw an impromptu 13th birthday party for her son at their house between the storms. She found solace in Brian Malone’s advice about rebounding: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
This shared experience is why she wants to remain in Tampa, despite her concerns that Helene and Milton won’t be the last storms. “Why do we live here in a place that’s trying to destroy us?” Brooke Carstensen pondered. “Well, it’s all the people that we have here.”
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