- It's been one month since Hurricane Helene barreled through communities in the Big Bend region.
- Recovery in Taylor County will take at least 2-5 years.
- Watch the video to take a look back at the impacts our communities are still dealing with.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Saturday marked one month since Hurricane Helene hit our communities across the Big Bend and South Georgia. The storm left so many neighbors with nothing to return home to. I’m Kenya Cardonne outside the Second Harvest of the Big Bend, one of several organizations playing a role in this intense road to recovery. Let’s take a look back at the severity of Helene’s impacts as hundreds of neighbors try their best to push forward.
September 26th—the day that Hurricane Helene turned thousands of lives upside down.
ABC 27 was with you all throughout the night it made landfall and on the ground when daybreak hit.
From Panacea to Tallahassee… Live Oak to South Georgia— Helene left its mark across several counties.
But some of the worst damage we’ve seen in the Big Bend region has been in Taylor County.
Nikki Henderson, Neighbor - “I literally fell to my knees on that ground.. it was tough.”
Hundreds upon hundreds of homes and businesses were washed away by incredible storm surge in areas like Steinhatchee and Keaton Beach— areas that were just catching their breath from Hurricane Debby in August and Idalia the year before that.
Todd Pinner, Neighbor - “It’s heartbreaking, like you grew up here. This is the town that built you and it’s gone and you feel like there’s nothing left hardly.”
A level of catastrophic damage that called for a visit from Governor Ron DeSantis and even President Joe Biden.
And soon after, lost some of its spotlight to Hurricane Milton.
Gloria Pugh, CEO of AMWAT Moving Warehousing Storage - “What I was very concerned about is that I don’t want Taylor County forgotten.”
Neighbors across counties have spent the past month lending a helping hand through volunteer debris cleanups and donation drives.
Jade Sullivan, Neighbor - “If donations are still coming, I’m still going and that’s the bottom line. I don’t care if it’s another week, another month, another six months— I will be there.”
The timeline for recovery is still unclear for both neighbors and officials.
Amber Durden, Emergency Management Coordinator for Taylor County - “This is going to take months, even years to kind of rebuild back.”
Now one month later, Taylor County is still leaning on all the resources they can get to take care of debris, find temporary housing and keep sites like the Keaton Beach Boat Ramp P.O.D. up and running for those in need of food and supplies.
But one thing’s for sure: ‘Taylor County Strong’ runs through the veins of neighbors near and far.
Amy Dykes, Owner of The Bird Rack - “We’re going to get through it, we always do, we always band together.”
Although recovery may be long and hard, there’s confidence it will get done.
Henderson - “If it takes two years, if it takes five years— it’s going to happen.”
It’s important to note that Hurricane Season doesn’t end until November 30th. As neighbors work to take Helene recovery day by day, anxiety will continue to loom until the potential for another disaster is completely out of the picture. Everyone is crossing their fingers that Helene was the last one of 2024.
