- Hurricane Helene made landfall in Taylor County Thursday, the third hurricane to do so in 13 months.
- Perry neighbors taking a deep breath, many saying "relieved" damage wasn't worse.
- The same cannot be said for coastal communities that saw "devastation."
- Watch the video to hear how neighbors weathered the storm and a look at recovery efforts
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Taylor County community regrouping after hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday evening.
"Devastation, it's just truly devastation," said Emergency Management Director, John Louk, about damage he's seeing in Taylor County's coastal communities. Louk said they saw record breaking storm surge.
In more inland places like Perry, neighbors are taking a deep breath after surveying damage.
"Frustrating, but not as bad because the previous hurricane has taken down all the dead trees so there wasn't as much to cause damage," said neighbor, Robert Bass.
Louk said Emergency Management are currently in the response phase, before they move on to the recovery phase.
"The documentation, the reporting of property damages, and all that sort of thing," said Louk.
Louk said lessons learned from Idalia has made this response much better and quicker.
Louk said he hasn't had enough time to process if he would do anything differently if they were to face another storm again. "It can be overwhelming it is overwhelming, and it just takes time to process it all," said Louk.
While some community members have a sharp climb to recovery," Louk is confident that Taylor County will bounce back.
"The people in Taylor County are so resilient, they're just tough people," said Louk.
