Florida’s Manasota Key totally devastated after Hurricane Milton made landfall close by

ENGLEWOOD, Fla. — Sand is piled as much as the primary flooring of most houses on Manasota Key, a sliver of land off Florida’s west coast, the place devastation is widespread.

NBC Information, escorted by Charlotte County officers, obtained an unique look Sunday on the south finish of the important thing.

The neighborhood, about 30 miles south of the place Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday, sits throughout a bay from Englewood, between Fort Myers and Sarasota.

The hot button is closed to autos, however residents are allowed in on foot, some strolling for miles with wagons to salvage what they will. Many are discovering their houses gutted and stuffed with sand.  

This “outdated Florida” neighborhood consists of many houses proper on the water which have been handed down from technology to technology. That’s the case for Kris Hleuka, whose grandfather constructed her residence on Sand Greenback Lane. Now, sand fills the primary story. 

“That is my life historical past,” she mentioned. 

As storm after storm hits the state, Hleuka has watched her residence be torn aside. For a lot of locally, owners insurance coverage isn’t an choice. 

“After Ian, we fully rebuilt the home. I’m not doing this once more,” she mentioned. “We will’t afford insurance coverage down on the seashore like this.”

Residents on the important thing are in “shock and mourning” that their little piece of paradise is gone, mentioned Brenda Kreuger, a buddy of Hleuka’s who lives in Englewood.

Jay and Pam Hager have owned a timeshare on the Sea Oats Seaside Membership for many years. The property, as soon as an oasis on a quiet strip of the Gulf, is now buried underneath 4 toes of sand.  

“It looks as if we’re in a film,” Jay Hager mentioned. “It simply doesn’t appear actual. I’ve been coming right here for 40 years and by no means seen something near this.”

Officers are working to take away the piles of sand which have buried the roads to allow them to reopen Manasota Key.

“Homes had been decimated. They’re gone into the Gulf, and we didn’t have that with Helene,” mentioned Ben Bailey, neighborhood improvement director for Charlotte County. 

“I’ve by no means seen something like this. Most individuals dwelling right here which are alive have by no means seen something like this, both,” Bailey mentioned.

John Elias, public works director for Charlotte County, mentioned the storm “definitely, actually, has modified the geography” of the important thing.

Greater than 750,000 Floridians are nonetheless with out energy 5 days after Milton made landfall, in accordance with PowerOutage.us.

At the least 24 folks have died on account of the storm, in accordance with an NBC Information depend of confirmed deaths.

President Joe Biden toured the harm in St. Petersburg on Sunday and promised $600 million for restoration after hurricanes Milton and Helene, with almost $100 million of that going towards enhancements to Florida’s energy system.