ENGLEWOOD, Florida — Sand is heaped up to the first story of most residences on Manasota Key, a sliver of land off Florida’s west coast that has suffered catastrophic devastation.
NBC News was escorted by Charlotte County officials on Sunday for an exclusive peek at the south end of the key.
The town, located roughly 30 miles south of where Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday, is across a harbor from Englewood, between Fort Myers and Sarasota.
The key is closed to vehicles, but inhabitants can enter on foot, some going for kilometers with wagons to recover what they can. Many people have found their homes ruined and filled with sand.
This “old Florida” enclave is made up of many waterfront homes that have been passed down through generations. That is the situation for Kris Hleuka, whose grandpa built the house on Sand Dollar Lane. The first storey is now filled with sand.
“This is my life history,” she explained.
Hleuka has watched as storm after storm ravages the state, tearing out her home. For many residents, homeowners insurance is not an option.
“After Ian, we reconstructed the entire house. “I’m not doing this again,” she stated. “We can’t afford insurance down on the beach like this.”
Residents on the key are in “shock and mourning” that their little bit of paradise is no longer there, according to Brenda Kreuger, a friend of Hleuka’s who lives in Englewood.
Jay and Pam Hager have had a timeshare at Sea Oats Beach Club for decades. The property, once an oasis on a peaceful stretch of the Gulf, is now buried beneath 4 feet of sand.
“It seems like we’re in a movie,” Jay Hager remarked. “It just doesn’t feel real. “I’ve been coming here for 40 years and have never seen anything like this.”
Officials are attempting to clear the sand piles that have covered the roads so that Manasota Key can be reopened.
“The houses were devastated. “They went into the Gulf, which we didn’t have with Helene,” said Ben Bailey, Charlotte County’s community development director.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. “Most of the people who still live here have never seen anything like this,” Bailey explained.
John Elias, Charlotte County’s public works director, stated that the hurricane “certainly, literally, has changed the geography” of the key.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 750,000 Floridians continue to be without power five days after Milton made landfall.
The storm has killed at least 24 people, according to an NBC News report of confirmed deaths.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden surveyed the damage in St. Petersburg and promised $600 million in rehabilitation efforts following storms Milton and Helene, with over $100 million going toward improvements to Florida’s electrical infrastructure.
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