Over the last week, the United Cajun Navy (UCN) has made efforts to aid locals in cleaning up after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Though the organization is national, it has local branches in various communities like Weeki Wachee and relies on local volunteers to help get people what they need.
The group’s focus is uniting people through “neighbors helping neighbors,” a United Cajun Navy representative stated.
These volunteers are deployed directly to homeowners’ properties, and this work often sees them removing wet furniture, carpet, and drywall in an effort to mitigate the storm damage. The first few days are about water, food, shelter, and trying to make sure that people’s homes are saved so they can get back to living their daily lives.
The relief missions are coordinated through the crisiscleanup.org app, which serves as a convenient way to mark which people’s houses have and have not been taken care of. This is especially pressing as not only are there many people on the coast who are not back in their homes but Category 5 Hurricane Milton is quickly hurtling towards the state less than two weeks later.
The United Cajun Navy has been focusing its efforts on the elderly, veterans, first responders, and anybody else who has a need. “We don’t care if you have insurance or not. Insurance is not going to save your house,” the UCN representative said. “Mold will destroy it.”
These efforts are to help people mitigate their future damages by getting dumpsters loaded up with the soaked remnants of furniture wrecked by Helene. They cannot just leave these objects in piles lining the streets of Hernando Beach with Milton on the way. Once the new storm arrives on the Florida coast, the pieces of debris could become deadly projectiles. “Really, we’re just more concerned about loss of life,” she said.
They coordinate with the Mormon Church and the Rotary Club, and companies like Eddie’s Sod and Lake Hideaway Dumpster Rental have been chipping in and providing their services. “I’ve been hauling dumpsters since last Saturday,” said Rob with Lake Hideaway.
JT Realty’s Sarah Hill applauded the efforts of the county and clean-up crews to get to work as fast as possible with another storm on the horizon. “First off, the county is kicking butt. I’ve never seen them pick up trash so quickly, but now we’re down to the wire and all these great contractors, roofers, dumpster companies, sod companies, anybody with the means to help is actually out here helping. It is just amazing and great for our community.”
Rob, Ellis, and Trebor (Lake Hideaway Dumpster Rental) noted that one of the biggest difficulties directly following Helene was the “lookie-loos” that were flooding the area and giving the workers less room to excavate the mountains of soaked refuse. Those involved hope that something can be done to limit post-storm visitors to residents and others who have a specific purpose for being there. Alleviating the dump fees would also reduce the financial strain on these groups that are taking dozens of dumpsters full of garbage, Trebor added.
Right now, though, time is of the essence. Only hours remain before Milton starts to make itself felt on the Florida coast. Unfortunately, there are still weeks left of work to recover from Helene.
With winds currently above 150 miles per hour, this hurricane may need to be treated like a tornado – the UCN’s representative heavily advised against citizens remaining in their mobile homes, one-story houses on the coast, or on upper floors of high-rises in the area.
“This is an historic event like I don’t think the beach has ever seen before, and it’s headed right down our throats,” VFW Commander Jason Spencer stated. “I’ve been working closely with the volunteers of the United Cajun Navy, providing them with whatever they need […] They have definitely been clutch.”
The local VFW Post 9236 was offering provisions to those in need in the wake of Hurricane Helene, but everything had to be stored back inside the building because of the impending Milton. Like with Helene, the county has put out evacuation orders yet again for zones A, B, and C for 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“I just hope everybody heeds the evacuation orders,” Spencer added. “I just hope everybody stays safe.”
Widespread power outages are expected coastally and inland across much of West Florida, and this can be dangerous for various reasons. “Loss of communication is a big deal because you can’t keep in touch,” the UCN representative noted. “We don’t want to end up in a cataclysmic thing like North Carolina.”
[Photo credit: Austyn Szempruch]
