CEDAR KEY, Fla. – Sue Colson, a retired nurse, said Sunday that residents of Cedar Key Island, where she is mayor, are frustrated in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen.
There was no water to put out the fire. Debris threatened clam farms. There was salt water intrusion in the well. There was also a power outage. There were no working water and sewer services and not enough portlets.
“You can’t have volunteers on the island if they don’t have a place to go to the bathroom,” Colson said.
Building foundations and stairs destroyed by storm surge from Hurricane Helen are seen along the shoreline in the storm’s aftermath, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Cedar Key, Florida. (AP Photo/Stephen Smith) (Copyright 2024 Associated Press.)
The standing water and debris weren’t just a challenge for Cedar Key. FEMA was active in six states.
Helen’s storm surge was devastating even before it made landfall in Big Bend, Florida, on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane. It was also responsible for deaths in other parts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia. Floods also caused destruction in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.
“It was like a bomb went off,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters Saturday. Search and rescue operations continued despite billions in damage.
Workers remove debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen in Cedar Key, Fla., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
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Satellite imagery from Google Maps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the area before and after Hurricane Helen in Taylor and Levy counties, Florida. Slide the center bar to confirm your changes.
Dekle Beach
dark island
Keaton Beach
cedar key
steinhatchy
fish creek
bird island
Ezell Beach
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite imagery on Maptiler using OpenStreetMap, Google Earth and Google Maps views, and Knightlab JuxtaposeX (open source code)
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