By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Anna Maria Island — It’s devastating when a home is ravaged by a hurricane. But twice in two weeks has a local family struggling with a tragic deja vu.
Atlas Township residents Kelly and Jeff Stonerock own a small mobile home on Anna Maria Island, Fla. part of the Barrier Islands in the Gulf of Mexico about an hour south of Tampa Bay.
The residence had belonged to Kelly’s mother who passed away in June, so the couple renovated the home and planned to enjoy the sandy beaches as a get away from Michigan winters.
A pair of deadly hurricanes changed those plans. Fast.
On Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene devastated much of the barrier islands with a powerful storm surge, followed by Hurricane Milton which rolled on shore Oct. 8 and 9.
“We are so heart broken,” said Kelly. “Jeff and I spent more than 100 hours and a lot of money remodeling the “Honey Home” in January. It was named after my mom. To make matters worse, if there could be, we could not even get to the island. I’m told by neighbors it’s a total loss. It’s just 100 steps to Tampa Bay, she lived on the skinny little island for 26 years and all the storms missed that house. Until now, it was God’s little piece of paradise that was wiped out.”
The Stonerocks were just one of millions of residents impacted by the pair of strong Atlantic hurricanes that ripped through Florida and several states on the east coast.
Some of Helene’s largest impacts were across the southern Appalachians where widespread severe and unprecedented flooding occurred with hundreds of fatalities and billions in property damage. Strong wind gusts damaged property and blew trees and power lines down in a swath from the Gulf Coast to the North Carolina mountains.
Atlas Township Attorney David Lattie along with his wife flew to Asheville, N.C., from Detroit for a family reunion on Sept. 25 as the storm was just hitting the Florida coast. The families gathered at an Airbnb northeast of Asheville unaware remnants of Helene brewing about 500 miles to the southwest was on a path north.
“When we arrived it was just raining,” said Lattie. “All was good at that time, however, by the next day the weather started changing with steady rains coupled with strong winds. We did not know this storm was going to be a monster.”
Soon after the power was out in the area, the generator kicked on for electricity and the water to the Airbnb stopped. The family members along with locals had some bottled water but resources were limited.
According to the North Carolina Climate Office, the Asheville Regional Airport lost communications on Sept. 27 morning, but up to that point, it had reported 13.98 inches – nearly three months’ worth of precipitation falling in less than three days.
Since the airport in Asheville had closed Lattie joined other family members driving rather than flying back to Michigan on Sunday morning Sept. 30.
“Area residents had chainsaws and had the expertise to cut in my conservative estimate 15 to 20 trees across the road leading into town,” said Lattie. “We were driving over power-lines that were across the road that we could just hope were deactivated.”.
According to news sources the mountain area was a wasteland of splintered houses, crushed cargo containers and mud-covered highways in one of the worst storms in U.S. history. The death toll had topped 130.
Navigation for Lattie was tricky on the return trip across the mountains.
“Fortunately the Airbnb had an old fashion paper road map,” he said. “There’s no cell tower that worked so GPS was not going to work. We just don’t carry paper maps anymore. Then, finding fuel was a challenge. They waited in a long line at the station for about an hour north of Asheville. And then were limited to $40 worth of fuel, of which cash was required.
“It was remarkable that we had cash,” he said. “We were one of the last to get fuel, then soon after we left they closed it down and reserved the fuel for emergency vehicles. Area volunteers were directing traffic in and out of the gas station. While everyone was tense, everyone was very considerate and organized. The volunteers were amazing and very courteous.”
Due to the closed roads they traveled south for about an hour then east for two hours before they could start heading north on Interstate 77.
“We started driving at eight in the morning on Sunday (Sept. 30) and did not get back home until 2 a.m., Monday (Oct. 1),” he said. “I feel lucky to get out of there especially when I see the devastation. We did not know how bad until we saw pictures later.”
Lattie said locals just complete strangers came together, to find water and meet each other’s needs.
“I got back home and kissed the ground,” he said. “Michigan may not be exciting weather-wise but in a lot of ways that’s a good thing.”
Another local family were also in the middle of the devastation, but unlike the Lattie family that headed north, they live in the region.
Cindy (Crossman) Halbach, 75, a former Brandon Township resident, who attended Brandon Schools moved to the rural City of Candler with her husband Greg southwest of Asheville N.C. about 39 years ago.
“It rained for 42 hours straight,” said Halbach, during an interview with The Citizen. “We are on high ground and lost power for about three days, but are now only without water. The water pipes came right up out of the ground. It’s going to be a month before it returns they tell us.”
“Asheville looks like a war zone and there are eight communities here in Western North Carolina that are just wiped out. Our son helps us by going to a nearby creek to get five-gallon buckets of water for us to use, “We just can’t haul it on our own.”
The residents of the 24 counties of Western NC have rallied to help each other, from the Red Cross to volunteers and even those with helicopters really came through, she said.
“They are still finding bodies under the mudslides in the mountains,” she said. “They have cadaver dogs still out searching, it’s a big area to search and many, many people are still missing.”
The Halbach’s live in the Bible Belt of North Carolina, she said.
“All the churches have been collecting supplies and really helping out,” she said.