Florida island braces for Cat 5 Hurricane Milton after making landfall with Helene: ‘The town has been completely destroyed’
Cedar Key, Florida resident Michael Presley Bobbitt tells Stuart Varney about what’s happening in his neighborhood following the devastation of Hurricane Helene and how the state’s response has been.
The island city that was completely devastated by Hurricane Helene is now sitting in the path of the strongest Hurricane Milton, dealing with the damage already and what may happen.
“I don’t know how much it can take on our little island,” said Michael Presley Bobbitt, a resident of Cedar Key, Florida, who lives along the west coast of the Sunshine State that was recently hit by Hurricane Helene.
The Category 4 hurricane hit the west coast of Florida late last month before making landfall in Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia. According to Bobbitt, Helene was the “most destructive hurricane” to hit Cedar Key, bringing more than 12 feet of storm surge to some areas, compared to 7.5 feet from Hurricane Idalia in August 2023.
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Cedar Key, Florida was hit by Hurricane Helene, but is now turning its attention to the much stronger Hurricane Milton. (FOX Business/Screengrab)
“All of our commercial buildings were destroyed. More than half of our homes were flooded. The city is still completely destroyed,” Stuart Varney told FOX Business Monday while standing outside a local food bank.
Now the community is bracing for more severe weather, this time in the form of a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane that is expected to make landfall on Wednesday.
“We’re climbing up the windows here waiting for the next storm, so as we’ve already survived three of the strongest storms the islands have ever had. [the last] “In 13 months, we feel a little drunk here,” he added.
Hurricane Milton strengthened to a category five storm as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, posing a looming threat to communities like Cedar Key already dealing with storm surge, power outages and other infrastructure damage from Helene making it just 10. days ago.
Bobbitt said now might be the best time for a second round, however his reason is to get the community back on its feet to be knocked down will only make things worse.
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Warnings for Hurricane Milton in Florida are in place for much of the West Coast. (FOX Business/Screengrab/Fox News Weather)
“We’re waiting to see what happens next. It’s like getting beaten up in a bar fight, it’s better to have it two days in a row than the second time it happens after you. You’re already on the mend, maybe if we get hit again now is the time.”
After the damage, criticism surrounded the organization’s response from many quarters.
Trump running with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, for example, criticized the Biden administration for its response to the storm.
“Think about this. In 2010, there was a terrible earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 82nd Airborne was on the ground two days later. There was a terrible storm within an hour of the 82nd Airborne headquarters. It took over a week for the entire deployment to arrive. and start helping people,” Vance told “Fox & Friends.”
“Unfortunately, what you’ve had is a person asleep at the wheel. No one knows who is in charge. The way to solve that problem is for leaders to come forward and focus on the people. Kamala Harris failed to do that.”
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Although he hated to politicize the issue, Bobbitt agreed with Vance.
“We’ve seen very little in the way of government aid so far. That doesn’t mean it won’t come. But for now, we rely on neighbors. We rely on volunteers,” he said, noting that. However, state and local politicians have arrived on the scene.
“We had to pause our recovery efforts today to prepare for the next storm but, so far, the community’s response has been overwhelming. Our island may be destroyed, but our community in Cedar Key is strong.”
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Black Mountain, North Carolina resident Mistie Cogbill and MANNA Foodbank CEO Claire Neal join ‘The Big Money Show’ to discuss the ongoing cleanup from Hurricane Helene.
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