PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Hurricanes Helene and Milton were both record-breaking storms — hundred-year events that happened a few weeks apart. Amid the destruction, devastation and loss of life, graduate students at the Coastal Research Lab at the University of South Florida are searching for clues to rebuild stronger.
The team uses hi-tech equipment to measure data that will inform leaders about the destructive nature of future storms.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska and photojournalist Reed Moeller went out with the team as they surveyed damage from the two hurricanes.
The researchers went to the newly opened Midnight Pass to battle strong currents while collecting flow rate, depth of the pass, width and other metrics.
Locals were beyond excited that the pass reopened.
"I just paddle boarded and swam through Midnight Pass," Jonny Hillyard said. "It's pretty amazing."
Hillyard owns Cool Breeze Boat and Jet Ski Rentals in Nokomis. The marina severely damaged by the storm. He tells Paluska at least there is one positive that came out of the storm.
"People that live near in this area, they can just come straight out to the Gulf," Hillyard said. "I saw so much more wildlife than I had before. It's so much cleaner. I could see the bottom. It's really exciting, because all this water getting dragged out, all the fresh water coming back in."
Dr. Ping Wangis an expert in the field of coastal geology and told Paluska as devastating as these storms were for the community, his students have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"It's been 100 years since something like this happened. Now you get to study it. You may never have studied this in your life?" Paluska said.
"Yes, one of the students may turn this into a thesis, and this gives us a lot of knowledge," Wang said. "Helene was a 100-year storm in terms of storm surge for the Tampa Bay area. Milton was a 100-year storm in terms of rainfall for Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, and a 100-year storm in terms of storm surge for Sarasota County."
"Your research will show how vulnerable these barrier islands are?" Paluska said.
"With this research, we want to learn as much as we can so that we can more effectively work with nature, than try to conquer it," Wang said. "That's what we did in the past several decades. So, looking forward, it will be more for the next generation. The philosophy is to better understand this and work with nature better than our previous efforts."
Wang said wave action that was 2.5 feet above the surge caused a majority of the damage across Bay area beaches. But, it was a fraction of the surge from Hurricane Ian that devastated Ft. Myers Beach.
"In Hurricane Ian, the surge was about 6 to 8 feet taller than what we have," Wang said. "That's why all the buildings you see in Ft. Myers Beach get smashed."
Paluska sat down with Libby Royer, a Ph.D. student in the Coastal Research Lab on John's Pass.
"We're sitting amid the rubble, but there are people's items scattered around us," Paluska said.
"It's hard not to be disheartened by it and be like, 'OK, how do we do it?' But it also pushes us and allows us to feel this way again, like, ‘OK, we cannot feel this way as a community,’” Royer said. “So let's go back to square one and design our buildings, design our roads, to assume for these situations to occur.”
"This is the worst storm we've had in a century. This is your field. What do you hope that this disaster teaches us to be better?" Paluska said.
"I think it provides us an opportunity to see where our infrastructure is lacking and start designing with nature instead of opposing forces," Royer said.
