Articles Posted in Hurricane & Storm Damage

TAMPA, FL – Homes aren’t the only places affected by Hurricane Milton. Tampa nonprofits, like the historic Dr. Walter L. The Smith Library library building, was also impacted by the devastating hurricane that claimed 32 lives in the U.S. alone in October. 

FOX 13 News said the 117-year-old library and museum building, which was established in 2005 to honor the seventh Florida A&M University president known for civil rights activism, has an estimated $500,000 dollars in damages. Some of the damages included destroyed floors and a torn roof. 

Walter Smith II, who is in charge of the museum’s operations and upkeep, plans to redo the floors and the roof and said it would take $50,000 to make that restoration goal a reality. 

TAMPA, FL – Tampa residents are stepping up to aid city crews with the hurricane debris clean-up process, as several showed up for a clean-up event hosted by the city this past Saturday. 

WFLA said that volunteers spent their time cleaning out homes, removing debris from yards, cutting drywall, and doing other tasks to aid with the recovery process. 

Tampa crews have been working around the clock, specifically seven days a week, to try and restore the city back to its original state as part of an initiative from the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), which states that cities in Florida must pursue clean up efforts for the first first “90 days or until debris mission is complete.” So help from volunteers, like locals Dmytro Baumann and Lauren Middleton, who have been volunteering for a couple of weekends, have truly streamlined the clean-up procedure. 

TAMPA, FL – Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) is one organization stepping up to help local Tampa residents recover after hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

On Friday, more than 60 semi-trucks went around providing food, water, pet kits in Hillsborough, Sarasota, Taylor, and Levy counties, where residents are still facing power outages and displacement, according to an X post from Global Empowerment Mission and a report from WHSV. 

The organization works to provide a wide range of materials that include drywall, doors, and mattresses. 

TAMPA, FL – There are no days off for Tampa city crews who have to work seven days a week to get the city cleaned up after Hurricane Milton within a three-month span. 

According to Fox 13 News, personnel have to clean up an estimated million cubic yards, or the size of “10,000 football fields full of debris,” as Tampa Mayor Jane Castor says. 

The 90-day time limit was first prescribed by Governor Ron DeSantis, who then ordered the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) to create an emergency order. The emergency order states that Florida cities are to pursue hurricane cleanup efforts for the first “90 days or until debris mission is complete.”