The village of Cortez, reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene, took its blows for Hurricane Milton Oct. 9, which made landfall in Siesta Key as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching 110 mph.
Milton inflicted significant wind damage across the state, from the Gulf coast to the Atlantic.
Cortez, one of the last working fishing villages on Florida’s west coast, faced the brunt of Milton’s power as the storm made landfall to the south.
Many Cortezians, still grappling with the aftermath of Helene’s storm surge, were left to contend with new devastation brought by Milton.
“It’s bad. These people are going to need help,” Katie Tupin, a longtime resident of Cortez, said Oct. 10. “Trees down. structural damage but the houses are still here — what’s left of them.”
She said Milton brought wind damage to area already affected by the surge of Hurricane Helene and in the aftermath of Milton it was the neighboring Cortez Park Co-op that showed the most structural damage.
Meanwhile, Cortez business owner Karen Bell told The Islander Oct. 10 that the village fishing fleet, which operates from out of A.P. Bell Fish Co., 4600 124th St. Court W., survived the storm and both the A.P. Bell and her neighboring restaurant Starfish Co. fared well.
“Some equipment flew off the A.P. Bell. Star is good,” Bell said. “The village is a mess.”
The 2024 hurricane season, historically, bears some resemblance to the 1921 hurricane season, which spawned the Oct. 25, 1921, Tampa Bay Hurricane — a tropical depression that formed in the southwestern Caribbean Sea and quickly organized into a category 4 hurricane, downgrading to a cat 3 just before making landfall in the Tarpon Springs area. Southward in Manatee and Sarasota counties, waterfront communities such as Cortez and Sarasota suffered heavy structural losses and flooding.
In response to Milton’s threat, Manatee County had initiated evacuation efforts for Zones A, B and later C, along with all manufactured homes and recreational vehicles.
“We do not issue evacuation orders lightly,” Manatee County public safety director Jodie Fiske said during an Oct. 6 EOC meeting. “Milton is anticipated to cause more storm surge than Helene. So, if you stayed during Helene, and got lucky, I would not press my luck with this particular system.”
Zone A, the lowest flood zone, would face inundation at 11 feet of surge. Zone B the second lowest zone would reach inundation at14 feet and Zone C would reach inundation at 18 feet.
Cortez is zoned A, the first level to be ordered to evacuate.
And many people did just that as county crews were working to remove debris piled high on roadsides throughout Cortez from Hurricane Helene.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management, which had been maintaining a presence in the area since Helene, was coordinating a continuous state of emergency response effort.
After Milton, county first-in crews began assessing the damage Oct. 10 and local officials.
The next day, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Cortez, where he asked business owners and residents about their needs and promised aid, including power.
As of Oct. 14, as a result of federal, state and local efforts, supplies were being delivered, day and night, to distribution sites throughout the county, including water and meals ready to eat.