HOLMES BEACH, Fla. — Drive around Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island and it’s hard to ignore the massive debris piles in front of the majority of homes.
Charles Fletcher was born and raised on Anna Maria Island.
ABC Action News Anchor Lauren St Germain met Fletcher and his family while they were working on their home, which sustained at least three feet of flooding from Hurricane Helene.
Items his family is trying to save are piled inside the home. Belongings back-to-back hurricanes took from them are piled outside their home and have been sitting there for weeks.
“Was this from Hurricane Helene or Milton?” asked St. Germain.
“For us, this was mostly Helene. We had some damage from wind but mostly the flooding from Helene,” said Fletcher.
“What is it like for you to come down your street and still see all of this?” asked St. Germain.
“It’s hard to believe because you see it on television with other storms, other disasters, and you can’t imagine what it would be like. And yeah it looks like a war zone or a disaster zone,” said Fletcher.
“I mean, truly, Allison and I, my photographer, were driving around, and that’s exactly what we said. It looks like a war zone,” said St. Germain.
“Yeah, it looks like a bomb went off. It’s just unbelievable,” said Fletcher.
As we drove down street after street, the wrath of this hurricane season was on full display. Houses were still standing, yet their contents were on the curb.
Families like Fletcher’s are left deciding what to do next.
“We would like to stay here, yes,” said Fletcher. “We’ve been here a long time and we would like to remain here a long time.”
ABC Action News reached out to the Mayor of Holmes Beach about an interview regarding the debris pickup, and we have yet to hear back.
The City of Holmes Beach posted an update to its Facebook page and website Wednesday afternoon. The post says, "As of today (10/23/24) there has been nearly 31,000 cubic yards of debris collected. The first sweep has been made in many zones. Please note that there will be at least 3 sweeps of the city. Do not worry if all debris is not collected on the first sweep. There will be more."
While many children have plenty of presents under the Christmas tree, that's not always the case for foster children. ABC Action News reporter Keely McCormick spoke to a 16-year-old who spent most of her life in and out of foster care about life in the system around Christmas.
