Horseshoe Beach, a quaint coastal town in Dixie County, is no stranger to storm surge and high-speed winds. Residents know the sound of rushing water and rain. When dealing with hurricanes, they’re veterans.
But according to Mayor Jeff Williams, Hurricane Helene was “the worst storm we’d ever had in history.”
Florida has been pounded this year by Debby, Helene and Milton. Horseshoe Beach was still recovering from Hurricane Idalia, which struck in August 2023, when Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sept. 26, near Perry, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Weather Channel estimated that Helene’s peak storm surge was more than 15 feet in the Big Bend region.
More than a month later, Horseshoe Beach is still struggling. Piles of concrete blocks and rubbish clutter the community, waiting to be hauled away. Few houses remain unscathed.
Williams said Helene will cost the community about 100 homes — including those that have yet to be “declared substantially damaged and not reparable,” he said.
This isn’t counting the homes that Idalia destroyed last year.
“Idalia, we lost 75 homes. As far as Helene goes, we’re close to 100,” Williams said. So far, the community has lost about 175 out of 365 homes between Helene and Idalia, he said.
Williams said he was in Cross City, when Hurricane Helene hit, but not before making sure that everyone who wanted to get out of Horseshoe Beach could do so.
“We had pre-storm emergency meetings,” he said. “We went door to door, making sure that we talked to everyone and make sure we got them out. And there was just the very few stragglers, but they dug their heels in and stayed.”
Fortunately, Williams said no one from their community was killed in the storm.
“When you’re here for more than a couple of years, you know everyone,” Williams said. “And so when you ride down the road, you see people that you’ve known for years and are very close friends with, and you see their house gone.”
The town council itself suffered a blow with the loss of their town hall. According to Williams, the concrete building had recently been renovated and repaired when Helene came through and destroyed it.
“We had finished that work maybe a week (before), and then Helene came in and when we came back there was nothing here,” Williams said. “Just pile of rubble. We don’t really even know where the roof is.”
The mayor is currently working out of a temporary unit, which is located right on top of the former town hall’s tile floor at 18 Fifth Ave. E.
Williams also said they lost all of the town’s businesses — restaurants, vacation rentals, real estate agencies, charter fishing, shrimping operations and more.
Gordon and Chris Laney run Sunset Seafood Bar & Grill at 110 Main St. Chris Laney said the restaurant pub had not been open long before Helene made landfall.
“We had only been maybe three weeks open, and the storm came through and it just demolished everything,” she said. The storm destroyed the glass windows, some of the doors, the walk-in cooler and the air conditioning units, she said.
Laney said Helene also destroyed their home.
“We stayed through Debby in August, and that seemed to be a pretty bad,” she said. “It was bad enough I told my husband I definitely did not want to ride this one out. So we opted to leave, but we weren’t able to get our furniture out of our home or anything like that. We lost all of it.”
Despite this loss, they decided to “make the best out of the space,” Laney said. The couple is using the restaurant building to distribute food to the community.
“We tried to salvage as much food that we could before the storm came in, so that we could be able to cook for the community,” Laney said. People from the community have provided donations so they can continue purchasing food to cook and continue paying their employees, she said.
In terms of recovery, Williams said community members and their friends and family have undertaken much of the work.
“They come in and they help,” he said. “They help friends and family clean up their yard, make repairs, and they do it out of the goodness of their heart.”
Williams said Horseshoe Beach has received support from local politicians, whom he described as very proactive. U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack and Sen. Rick Scott were among those with whom Williams said he was “very pleased.”
“And if we make a phone call to them, they respond,” he said. “And if I need something, they find a way to get it for me.”
The mayor also said workers from the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Division of Emergency Management are removing debris from the community and its canals.
However, Williams said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not been active in Horseshoe Beach in the aftermath of Helene.
“At the Idalia storm, FEMA was here the day after the storm,” Williams said. “They had FEMA employees walking around with iPads, begging the citizens to fill out an application. They didn’t say, ‘Here’s a link. Go here.’ They did it for them.”
After Helene, however, Williams said FEMA has been “nonexistent.”
“They definitely didn’t come in here and help people apply, and the people are not real happy with FEMA right now,” Williams said.
Jack Pagano, a FEMA media relations specialist, said agency representatives had canvassed the area after the storm. To date, FEMA has distributed over $502 million in aid across Florida, though he did not say how much has gone to Dixie County residents.
People who still want to apply for federal aid can visit 841 SE Highway 349 in Old Town. FEMA aid does not cover damage to businesses or secondary homes.
Still, Chris Laney said she hopes the state government will do more to help.
“You know as being a business owner, it would seem like the amount of destruction, the state could be able to help with funding to help us get back up on our feet. You know?” Laney said. “I mean it’s the small businesses that make this country what it is.”
Either way, both Williams and Laney emphasized Horseshoe Beach’s need for hope in the coming days.
“We’re just taking day by day,” Laney said, “and praying and hoping that the Good Lord will open doors, somewhere, somehow, to be able to get this fixed.”
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