Michael Presley Bobbitt of Cedar Key, Florida, spoke to Stuart Barney about his local experience and the federal government’s response in his area affected by Hurricane Helen.
Completely destroyed by Hurricane Helen, the island city is now in the path of the extremely powerful Hurricane Milton, grappling with the destruction that is already there and what could be coming.
“I don’t know how much longer our little island can hold out,” said Michael, a resident of Cedar Key, Fla., along the Sunshine State’s storm-stricken West Coast, which just faced the brunt of Hurricane Helen. Presley Bobbitt said.
The Category 4 storm hit the west coast of Florida late last month, then plowed into Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia. Bobbitt said Helen was the “most devastating” hurricane to hit Cedar Key, bringing storm surge of more than 12 feet in some areas, compared to 7.5 feet for Hurricane Idalia in August 2023. .
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Cedar Key, Florida was hit hard by Hurricane Helen, but now the focus has shifted to the extremely powerful Hurricane Milton. (FOX Business/Screenshot)
“All the commercial buildings were basically destroyed. More than half of the houses were completely submerged in water. The town was just completely destroyed,” he told FOX Business while standing outside a local food bank on Monday. told Stuart Barney.
The community is now looking ahead to a second round of severe weather, this time a potentially devastating Category 5 storm expected to make landfall Wednesday.
“We’re boarding up the windows here in preparation for the next hurricane, because we’ve already survived three of the strongest hurricanes this island has ever hit in the (past) 13 months. , I’m feeling a little punch drunk here,” he said. Added.
Hurricane Milton swirled in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and strengthened into a Category 5 storm, leaving areas like Cedar Key already dealing with storm surge, power outages and other damage to infrastructure from Helen, which made landfall on the 10th. It poses an immediate threat to the region. A few days ago.
But Bobbitt said now might be the best time for a second round, his rationale being that trying to get the community back on its feet would only make things worse by getting beaten down again.
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Warnings for Hurricane Milton in Florida are in effect for much of the West Coast. (FOX Business/Screengrab/Fox News Weather)
“We’re just waiting to see what happens next. It’s like if you’re going to get hit in a bar fight, you’d rather get hit two days in a row than twice in a row.” It may be getting a lot better, but if we’re going to get attacked again, now’s the time. ”
Behind the tragedy, the federal government’s response has been criticized from multiple quarters.
For example, President Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), criticized the Biden administration for its response to the hurricane.
“Think about it: In 2010, there was a terrible earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 82nd Airborne arrived on the ground two days later. An hour away from the 82nd Airborne headquarters, there was a devastating hurricane. It happened. We have less than a week until the full deployment arrives and starts helping people,” Vance told “Fox & Friends.”
“Unfortunately, what you’ve experienced is someone is drowsy driving. No one knows who is responsible. The way to solve that problem is to show up and focus on people. Kamala Harris couldn’t do that.”
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Bobbitt agreed with Vance, although he disliked politicizing the issue.
“So far we’ve seen very little help from the federal government. That doesn’t mean help isn’t coming, but right now we’re relying on our neighbors. We’re relying on volunteers.” said, and said: But state and local politicians arrived on the scene.
“We had to pause our recovery efforts today to prepare for the next hurricane, but so far the response from the community has been overwhelming. Our island could be destroyed. But the Cedar Key community is strong.”
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