I have lived in Florida and Tampa Bay for almost 48 years and have been through it all. Hurricanes, storms, bridge collapses, fires, floods, shut downs, COVID, and much more. But I have never been through a few weeks period like the ones we just went through with Helene and Milton. I will tell you honestly, with Milton, it was the first time that I was truly scared to death of what could, and might, happen. Yet again, while the damage in Tampa Bay was huge, we still dodged the biggest bullet of all. Had this been a direct hit, chances are I am not writing this piece today and the immediate Tampa Bay area would look ten times worse than it does now.

Now comes the most difficult part of these horrific hurricanes and tornadoes and what they left behind, the clean up and getting everything back to normal again. That is a task that will take weeks, months, maybe even years to complete. To see street after street in one town and city after another lined with people personal belongings, furniture, clothes, appliances, etc. waiting to be picked and hauled off to the dumps, is just mind boggling. To see homes of all descriptions flooded throughout and totally ruined is devastating and with rivers cresting that will get even worse in some areas. Seeing trees of all sizes uprooted, and slammed into cars, houses, buildings and more is heart stopping. To see many of these same areas in Tampa Bay without power, not just for hours, but days and weeks is very hard to take. It not only affects home owners and apartment dwellers, but businesses big and small who will, in many cases, never reopen again because of the damage done. For those of us who were fortunate to make it through unscathed we have been truly blessed.

Yet with all tensions rising from people over this situation with fights, guns being pulled, unrealistic demands and concern only with themselves, it is a blessing to see neighbor helping neighbor at a time like this. They don’t care about the color of your skin, who you vote for, what religion you are, all that matters is that they can help each other recover from this mess that Helene and Milton left behind. It is also heartwarming to see lineman from more than 20 states and Canada converge on Florida to help restore the power all over the region. Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Georgia, Virginia, Indiana are just some of the trucks out there beside our own from Duke and TECO doing their very best to get the power back as quickly and as efficiently as they can. People cooking up meals to feed people without. People donating water, food, clothes and whatever else they can to help those who lost everything. It is a wonderful sight to see everyone come together like this to help one another get through tough times like this. The unsung heroes at a time like this are plentiful.

My question is this………….Why does it have to be a natural disaster and loss of lives to bring people together and be united? Why can’t it be like it used to be when people helping people and getting along was just the right and proper thing to do, no natural disaster needed?

The state of Florida and Tampa Bay have done it before and will again and get through this. We will rebuild, we will resume as normal a life as we can and we will be even more ready and prepared for the next one, whenever that will be (hopefully no more this year). Thank you and may God bless you to all those from all over the country who have come here to lend a big helping hand. We will make it because we are FLORIDA STRONG!

Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN