Florida has experienced a lot of intense weather this hurricane season. An iconic 100-plus year-old oak tree that stood in front of Florida’s Historic Capitol crashed down unexpectedly on September 14th. The oak tree fell after days of heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Francine saturated the ground. Many of the majestic oaks around the Historic Capitol building were planted by Jennie Tatum Davis in the 1890s.
Florida subsequently experienced two more hurricanes on September 26th with Hurricane Helene making landfall as a Category 4 (130+ mph winds) near Perry in the Big Bend region, and on October 9th with Hurricane Milton making landfall as a Category 3 (111+ mph winds) near Siesta Key, south of Sarasota. Both hurricanes gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico, reaching Category 5 level before hitting the coast. Damaging tornadoes, storm surge, river flooding, and power outages affected communities on the east and west coasts of the state.
Governor Ron DeSantis issued executive orders days before both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton and strongly encouraged Floridians to evacuate low-lying areas and prepare for the storms’ intensities. The devastation to the west coast communities of Florida due to flooding cannot be understated. Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson estimates that Milton may have caused $2.5 billion in farm damage. The Office of Insurance Regulation reports that more than $1 billion in insurance claims have been filed for Helene and $2 billion for Milton with more claims anticipated. Total damages, including uninsured costs, will be much higher.
Several federal resources for Floridians recovering from the hurricanes are available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). While the SBA has exhausted its funds for disaster loans, they encourage people to continue applying while they await additional funding from Congress. More helpful resources can be found at FloridaDisaster.org. We also have created a list of organizations offering hurricane relief and recovery assistance. For those that would like to make charitable contributions benefiting individuals impacted by the hurricanes, go here.