Scores of Manasota Key homes and businesses were severely damaged after Hurricane Helene landed on Sept. 26. Then last Wednesday came Milton’s much higher storm surge and more powerful wind, strong enough to rip entire homes from their foundations and toss them into the water.

As Southwest Florida rode out the storm, one thing that seemed unusual with Hurricane Milton was the number of tornadoes. The storm made landfall near Siesta Key but Southwest Florida still felt the impact in the form of storm surge, winds, and tornadoes.

Less than two weeks later, on October 9, Category 3 Hurricane Milton directly targeted the Sarasota area, just south of Tampa Bay, as what's predicted to be one of the costliest storms on record. While insured losses are already mounting well into the billions of dollars,

The Gulf Coast of Florida was immensely impacted by Milton, hitting as a Category 3 hurricane 120-mph sustained winds. See damage in cities counties.

ENGLEWOOD – The process of digging out the historic Hermitage Artist Retreat on Manasota Key began in earnest Tuesday, with Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg working with volunteers and contractors and dealing with disaster tourists.