Back-to-back hurricanes take toll on Gulf Coast neighborhoods. ‘I’ve looked at Zillow’

The wallop of back-to-back storms has taken a tremendous toll on some of the oldest Gulf Coast neighborhoods.

In East Bradenton along the Manatee River, Milton piled more destruction onto what Helene brought. Warped drywall, furniture and household belongings from Helene’s floods were still piled in front of many homes as the second hurricane in as many weeks approached.

Milton added to the chaos, sending trees crashing into homes and power lines. Trees that stood for decades lay across neighborhood streets, blocking them entirely.

On Thursday afternoon, homeowners worked to clear what Hurricane Milton left behind.

Residents who spoke with the Bradenton Herald shared stories about how the intense hurricane affected their homes. Some houses near the Manatee River were spared the invasion of storm surge and flood water. Others weren’t so lucky.

Amanda Birard, who has lived in the neighborhood for about three years, said a few inches of water got into her house, but she was relieved that Bradenton avoided the steep surge predictions of 10 to 15 feet that were forecast at one point.

A neighbor who was helping her clean up her yard agreed. “I prefer the winds and debris to the surge.”

Birard said she has mixed feelings about staying in the neighborhood after the double whammy.

“If we keep having surge warnings like for this one, I don’t know,” Birard said. “I’ve already looked at Zillow.”

A few blocks away, another East Bradenton resident said she feels differently. Caitlin Wallace has lived in her home for eight years and has considered selling it, but the home has held up so well to a string of recent hurricanes that she is second-guessing that idea.

Wallace evacuated just to be safe but said her home suffered minimal damage.

“The water is never an issue here. I’m pretty confident in this area,” Wallace said.

Just three houses down from Wallace, Milton felled a massive oak tree, forcing drivers to find another way around the neighborhood.

Residents in the historic fishing village of Cortez also dealt with the reality of a second hurricane in less than two weeks.

On Thursday, the streets of Sunny Shores Mobile Home Park were flooded with standing water and littered with junk in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm that made landfall in Siesta Key on Wednesday evening.

The Cortez community, where many residents lost everything due to Hurricane Helene’s historic storm surge last month, had piles of uncollected storm debris as Milton threatened the Gulf Coast. Many residents were concerned that the remaining debris would turn into projectiles if it were not picked up by Manatee County in time.

Following Milton, furniture, garbage bags, sleeping bags, pictures, books, AC units, refrigerators and more lined the streets.

“The most upsetting thing about this is they never came up to pick up all this debris that’s everywhere,” said Henrietta Hoffman, 80, a longtime Cortez-area resident. “It’s been there for 10 days and nobody picked it up.”

Manatee County reported as of Wednesday that it had recovered around 6,000 tons of debris . Residents expressed frustration that it wasn’t enough, as piles went uncollected at Sunny Shores Mobile Home park and other neighborhoods ahead of Milton.

Henrietta and her husband, Bob, 84, have lived nearby in the 3500 block of 115th Street West for 30 years. But she said she’d never seen anything like the last couple of storms.

After Helene, she said the couple had to be rescued by boat after Helene’s flooding left her chest deep in water in her driveway. Now, following Milton, a large portion of the couple’s roof and carport were missing, so they’re staying with a friend.

Henrietta said she hurts for Sunny Shores and the surrounding neighborhoods.

“We still have the structure of our home, but my whole community is devastated,” Henrietta said, her voice getting quiet as she held back tears.