About 5 feet of storm surge flowed through the historic neighborhood of Palmetto Beach, just south of Tampa's Ybor City. Furniture and household are in sodden piles along its streets.
Pat Stone has been spending much of the past several days bagging and dragging memories out to the curb. Her daughter and granddaughter live in one of the neighborhood's original homes.
“All the hard oak floors that were as old as the house that we worked so hard to salvage, it's out there in the pile,” Stone said. “We had 5 feet of water in the house. I'm drying out all their medical records. Their file cabinets were soaked.
"I've done 20 loads of laundry trying to save some of their clothing. They're exhausted mentally and physically and I'm frustrated I can't help.”
The Palmetto Beach house is just two blocks from an arm of Tampa Bay. Storm surge pummeled everything around them.
“They're hoping they can save the walls, but they're looking at possible demolition. The bottom floor, it's gutted completely on the inside. All the wallboard is out, all the flooring is torn out, the kitchen has been torn out, brand new kitchen, everything is gone,” Stone said.
Her partner, Len Phillips, waxed philosophical while getting ready to return back to their home.
“It's what we all fear,” Phillips said. “We live down in Apollo Beach and we had the same kind of problems down there. We didn't get it in the house, luckily. It is lucky. So, I guess every cliché there is. The price of living in paradise. What can I say?”
That price just went up. But Stone says her daughter's family loves Palmetto Beach and has no plans to leave.
