This is just the beginning of cleanup in many parts of the state, including many neighborhoods dealt a one-two-punch by both Milton and Helene. Allie Spillyards spoke to a family with Dallas ties figuring out where they go from here.
As Hurricane Milton washed ashore, the Kaminski family watched from afar.
“Honestly, that was tough, because you don't know, the waiting, the unknown is the hardest part,” said Evan Kaminski.
After evacuating from their St. Petersburg home for a second time in just two weeks, Evan, Janai and Carter sheltered with loved ones in Atlanta.
Neighbors sent photos of an uprooted tree and their yard littered with debris. It’s a mess that’s comparatively mild to what they saw two weeks before with Hurricane Helene.
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“Before we evacuated, we really felt like, okay, we're going to expect a foot of water or so. We tried to put everything that we cared about on dressers or on things that were elevated. We put our furniture on cinder blocks. So we put everything up, and when we came home, everything, the water was three feet inside our entire house. So all the furniture floated. Everything that we tried to save was now...” said Janai.
“It floated and fell over,” added Evan.
It’s the story in neighborhoods all over Florida.
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“I just got finished fixing the storm from Ian, and now I have to replace the whole thing again,” a homeowner in South Daytona told NBC News.
Many are left wondering whether to rebuild again.
As the Kaminskis decide what comes next, they said they’re leaning on support from friends, including a fundraiser started by Evan’s colleagues at his Dallas-based employer.
After 19 years of dodging storm damage at their Tampa Bay area home, hurricane Idalia displaced the family for nine months last year.
This time, they say they’re not planning to go back.
“So many of us are in this situation where we have a home that we don't know if we can really live there long term. Because if this is going to continue to happen, these are whole neighborhoods that are experiencing so much destruction,” said Janai.
