What a difference a month can make. Last month our publisher’s message began, talking about the annual Taste of the Beaches, which was to be launched at the first of four Friday night concerts at Horan Park in St. Pete Beach, like in prior years. This year wasn’t like prior years.
Our October edition was ready for press when Hurricane Helene sideswiped us on her way toward Tallahassee and ultimately to Asheville, NC. Storm surge of 5-8 feet had been predicted for several storms that looked similar and not materialized, so it was not too hard to be complacent about Potential Tropical Cyclone #9 as she was known – until a day or two before arrival.
We have lived in several ground floor homes on the beach in the past 40 years, and this is the first time our floors have been wet. We started cleaning the gulf out of our home and office immediately, but it proved a monumental task. In the end, we settled for preserving what stayed dry on upper shelves, upper cabinets and upper hanging racks, as we began to prepare for another unwelcome visitor – Hurricane Milton. If he had hit as predicted, all our preservation efforts would have been in vain, as Milton’s surge was predicted to eclipse Helene’s, and she put over 2 feet throughout our home and office.
A “little jog” east instead of northeast in Milton’s path saved the Tampa Bay area from a second surge, but put us in the northwest quadrant, where up to 17 inches of rain fell in a day and the wind blew like crazy for two days or more. Milton was very hard on roofs and trees throughout the greater Tampa Bay area.
We fared the worst of our incredible team of writers, proofreader, art and production director, internet jockeys, printers, and distribution people – ending up on the roof for 5 hours during a hurricane. Still, others had challenges with evacuation, power outages and communication challenges, yet here we are with another entirely new issue of Paradise News almost on schedule.
Mold remediation is underway, meaning at least the lower 48.5 inches of our interior walls, lower cabinets in the kitchen, laundry and bathrooms must be removed, along with furnishings, appliances, and possessions, so mold prevention specialists can spray to kill mold and dry everything out for three days with fans and dehumidifiers. In the meantime, huge trucks carrying cranes with buckets are removing piles of debris (the remnants of their prior lives) from in front of residences and businesses throughout our readership area.
We told you last month that we would continue to tell you this month what else we were thankful for. The list has changed since last month and will likely change again before next month. We are thankful that we survived Helene’s wrath and that our home repair estimate is likely within insured limits. We are thankful for protective, proactive communities and comprehensive car insurance that covers flood. We are especially thankful to city staff and fire fighters, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputies that kept looters out and patrolled everywhere on St. Pete Beach after Helene, and the troops handing out water and MRE meals at the community center. We are thankful we did not have to eat many MRE’s. We are also thankful that Nov. 30 marks the official end of hurricane season.