Florida resident says island decimated by Helene has seen 'very little' federal assistance so far
Cedar Key, Florida resident Michael Presley Bobbitt tells Stuart Varney about the on-the-ground experience in his area following Hurricane Helene's devastation and how the federal response has been.
An island city totally devastated by Hurricane Helene now sits in the path of intensely powerful Hurricane Milton, grappling with the devastation that's already there and what could be to come.
"I don't know how much more our little island can take," said Michael Presley Bobbitt, a resident of Cedar Key, Florida, which sits along the Sunshine State's storm-battered west coast that just faced the wrath of Hurricane Helene.
The Category 4 storm slammed into Florida's west coast late last month before barreling into Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia. According to Bobbitt, Helene was the "most devastating" hurricane to hit Cedar Key, bringing in over 12 feet of storm surge in some areas, compared to the 7.5 feet from Hurricane Idalia in August 2023.
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Cedar Key, Florida was battered by Hurricane Helene, but now pivots its focus to extremely powerful Hurricane Milton. (Gxstocks/Screengrab)
"All of our commercial buildings were essentially destroyed. More than half of our homes were completely inundated with water. The town is just absolutely demolished," he told Gxstocks' Stuart Varney on Monday as he stood outside a local food bank.
Now the community looks ahead to round two of severe weather, this time in the form of a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm that's slated to make landfall on Wednesday.
"We're boarding up the windows here in anticipation of the next hurricane, so having already survived the three most powerful hurricanes the islands ever had in [the last] 13 months, we're feeling a bit punch-drunk here," he added.
Hurricane Milton strengthened to a category five storm as it swirled in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, serving as a looming threat for communities like Cedar Key that are already dealing with storm surge, power outages and other blows to infrastructure from Helene making landfall just 10 days prior.
Bobbitt said now might be the best time for a second round, however—his rationale being that getting the community back on its feet only to be knocked down again would only make things worse.
Warnings for Hurricane Milton in Florida comprise most of the West Coast. (Gxstocks/Screengrab / Fox News Weather)
"We're just waiting to see what happens next. It's a little bit like if you're going to get beat up in a bar fight, you'd rather it be two days in a row instead of the second time happening after you already get pretty well. Maybe if we're going to get hit again, now's the time."
At the backdrop of the devastation, criticism surrounds the federal response from multiple fronts.
Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, for instance, slammed the Biden administration for their response to the hurricane.
"Think about this. In 2010, there was a terrible earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 82nd Airborne was on the ground two days later. There was a disastrous hurricane an hour away from the 82nd Airborne headquarters. It took more than a week for the full deployment to arrive and start helping people out," Vance told "Fox & Friends."
"Unfortunately, what you've had is somebody asleep at the wheel. Nobody knows who's in charge. The way to solve that problem is by having leaders who show up and focus on the people. Kamala Harris has failed to do that."
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Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert discusses the aftermath of Hurricane Helene as another storm bears down on Florida.
Though hating to politicize the issue, Bobbitt agreed with Vance.
"We've seen very little in the way of federal assistance so far. That's not to say it's not going to come. But right now, we're relying on neighbors. We're relying on volunteers," he said, noting that state and local politicians have, however, arrived at the scene.
"We've had to pause our recovery efforts today to get ready for the next hurricane but, so far, the response from the community has been overwhelming. Our island might be destroyed, but our community in Cedar Key is strong."
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