By Kirby Wilson
It will be days before we know the full impact of this storm. Residents are working on the cleanup.
A man driving a pickup northbound flashed the headlights about 18 miles away from “Florida’s Last Frontier.” The reporters rolled down their windows and stopped.
The man replied, “Are you going to Horseshoe Beach?” He then shook it off. The water tower is three feet deep below the sea.
A few hours before, the Category 3 hurricane Idalia made landfall about 30 miles to the west of a tiny beach community of 200 residents. Forecasters predicted a storm surge of 12 feet over the region.
Has everyone left? What was left?
David O’Steen, who lives a ranch-style home in a town about 12 miles away from Horseshoe Beach found that half his roof had been blown off when he arrived at home. He didn’t waste time in moping around, but walked to the patio that used to be part of his backyard. From the wreckage, he pulled out a chainsaw. He turned it on. The neighbor took it. He had a lot of work to do.
The Lord has blessed us. O’Steen said to a journalist that he was fine. Other people should use the road in order to inspect their items.
He said he couldn’t do much for his house.
The road near the Water Tower, two miles away from Horseshoe Beach was completely submerged. Impassible.
Becky Staples and her sister waited for the waters to subside so that they could go back to Becky Staples’ home. Bill Ordner was not about to wait. Bill Ordner didn’t want to wait. He knew his girlfriend’s vehicle wouldn’t survive on the road. So he walked. The man tried to stay on the highest part of the road by straddling the yellow line.
More than one mile away, the surf revealed what would become of this town. The roaring Gulf carried tires, docks and even fridges.
Ordner found a large pile of trash about 40 feet away from Horseshoe Beach. This was the final obstacle blocking Ordner’s way home. The diehards and him hurled plywood aside, before waving through trucks that gathered outside the city.
A sign said, “Welcome To Horseshoe Beach.” Florida’s Last Frontier.
The Times’ reporters were the first ones to arrive in the town on Wednesday morning. The authorities restricted access to the island for most residents as well as journalists until around 3:30 pm.
Canals can be seen cutting through the rows of houses on a sunny day. This makes waterfront real estate an affordable option. This day the beauty of Florida was revealed to be dangerous.
The west side of town was a mess. It looked like someone dropped stilted houses into the Gulf. The foundations of the homes were torn away. Marina, the town’s main attraction, was hollowed by the surf.
Main Street was covered in so much sand that it’s hard to imagine the road ever being paved. The road was littered with cutlery, plates and an overturned pool table.
Fourth Avenue was blocked by a temporary house that washed right into the middle. Damage was done to all properties built at ground level. The windows of City Hall blew out.
Ordner took warnings from the authorities seriously. He was hunkered in Cross City on Tuesday night. He said that earlier in the day he had seen a Coast Guard helicopter making a slow circle around Cross City. This was his warning.
Ordner: “I thought this was the ‘before picture’.” Ordner’s “after” photo wasn’t too bad, considering. Surge reached the second floor of his home but did not make it up to the living area on the third. The storage on the ground floor was a mess, but it was not much. His dream house may live another day.
But not everyone took the warnings seriously.
Tom Lanier walked out his house for the very first time in a long while at about 12:30 p.m. He decided to wait out the storm. Lanier, like Ordner lived in a structure that he thought was high enough to resist the storm surge.
Around 6 am, the power was cut off. He watched out of his window as objects were swept past his house: sheds and ice machines. Water heaters. 100-gallon tanks.
He got nervous every time a big thing crashed through the support piles of his house. Will he return? Most likely not.
Lanier said, “I used tell people that I wasn’t stupid. I was just slow. Now I’m unsure.”
He moved from Horseshoe Beach to Horseshoe Beach in Horseshoe Beach, 18 years ago. The retired firefighter wanted to move somewhere warmer. He wanted to check if the truck was still there.
Lanier, 78 years old, navigated gingerly his body past town hall through what appeared to be a heap of debris from a home nearby. He drove his F-150 to Horseshoe Beach’s peak, which is about 12 feet above the sea. Near the post office and fire station.
Lanier opened up the door. It appeared that the inside was dry. The man pressed the button on his key. He pressed a button on his keys. He smiled and turned around.
He said, “We are alive and well.”
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