Determination to rebuild follows Florida's hurricanes with acceptance that storms will come again

No sooner had residents of the Bahia Vista Gulf condominium complex dug out and from Hurricane Helene than they were faced with the same daunting cleanup from new damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton.

No sooner had residents of the Bahia Vista Gulf condominium complex dug out and from Hurricane Helene than they were faced with the same daunting cleanup from new damage inflicted by Hurricane Milton.

The beachfront units had been gutted, treated and dried out after Hurricane Helene and mounds of sand that had blown in from the beach had been removed. Then, less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton barreled in and undid all the progress.

“They’ve got to start the whole process over, cleaning, sanitizing, bringing in drying equipment, getting them all dried and prepped for renovations,” lamented Bill O’Connell, a board member at the complex in Venice, about an hour's drive south of Tampa. The second hurricane “brought all the sand back on our property.”

Some longtime Floridians have grown accustomed to the annual cycle of storms that can shatter and upend lives in a state known mostly for its balmy weather, sunshine and beaches.

“It’s the price you pay to live in paradise,” O’Connell said. “If you want to live here with this view, beautiful sunsets, be able to go out on your boat, enjoy what Florida has to offer, you have to be willing to accept that these storms are going to come."

The devastation of the back-to-back storms is still being tallied as a swath of the state comes to terms with damage from the unusual dual strike of storms in such close proximity. Many residents, some returning home after evacuating, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.

U.S. President Joe Biden planned to visit the Gulf Coast on Sunday.