By: Adison Poole 

This year’s hurricane season is bringing catastrophic damage to areas near not only the coasts, but also mountain areas that weren’t built to withstand harsh weather.  

On Thursday, Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall for the first time in Florida. The storm continued its destructive path through Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and both of the Carolinas.  

Helene was a category four hurricane with wind gusts up to 140 mph. The storm lasted from Tuesday, Sept. 24 to Sunday, Sept. 29.  

“My grandma’s house was hit by the storm,” senior Nolan McDade said. “She had trees down all around her house and one even landed on it.” 

The damage not only devastated areas along the water, but also several mountain regions. Mudslides throughout the area caused destruction to properties everywhere.  

Mudslides like these were reported throughout the Carolinas and Tennessee.  

In some cases, these mudslides were deadly and claimed the lives of people caught in them. One family in North Carolina lost 11 members to Helene.  

“I heard about how bad the damage was,” McDade said. “My grandma didn’t experience anything like that, though.”  

Almost directly following Helene, Hurricane Milton raised concern throughout Florida. Prior to the storm making landfall, several news stations spoke of the threat posed by the upcoming storm. The hurricane reached category level 6 before eventually making landfall as a category 3.  

The storm struck the Florida coast near Tampa Bay on Oct. 9. The storm spanned throughout the night and pushed through Tampa straight across Florida all the way to Melbourne.  

“My sister Heidi attends USF, which is the University of South Florida,” senior Greta Hagofsky said. “She lives in Tampa, just off of campus.”

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A tree down on apartments after Hurricane Milton.

Photo Courtesy: Greta Hagofsky

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Many in the area fled to seek safety from the storms. The hurricane caused local hotel prices to skyrocket.  

“On the day of the hurricane, they decided that they were going to stay in Orlando in order to stay safe,” Hagofsky said. “They paid triple the normal cost of the hotel because of the hurricane.”   

Milton was responsible for 41 tornadoes and counting throughout the affected areas. Once all the damage surveys are completed that number will be expected to rise.  

“Once it was over, they went back to their apartment complex,” she explained. “They have multiple buildings there and it wasn’t Heidi’s that got hit, but a big tree fell on one of the other buildings.”  

Not only did Milton bring strong winds and flash floods, but also devastating tornadoes and storm surges. The storm also left 2.6 million without power and claimed 12 lives.   

“They didn’t have power for three days of being there,” she said. “That was only after being back, but it was the third day they finally got their power back.”  

Cleanup from the hurricanes is ongoing.  

“There was a bunch of debris everywhere,” Hagofsky said. “There was just a lot going on with all the flooding and trees down. Luckily their apartment was perfectly fine, so they ended up being all good.”