As soon as Charlotte County officials reopened the north end of the Manasota Key, Kay Fish rushed to see if her home on Golfo Street was OK.
"Well, we need somewhere to live," said Fish.
Her home's walls collapsed, showing the gulf and her floors, now covered in a layer of sand. Outside was a living nightmare as well.
"Well, I mean, it's such a devastation. I mean, even with the pictures, it looks totally worse than the pictures they do show," said Fish.
A few miles away, Florence Kirsch, a resident from Englewood, was checking on her friend's condo. She doesn't know how many more hurricanes people here can take.
"There's risk here, and now our insurance is going to go up, probably because, you know, all this devastation in the last few years, we've had three hurricanes this year — that's just too many," said Kirsch.
Others, like Fish, don't plan on losing hope. She wants to keep moving forward.
"I feel closer to my son here, and this is where we're going to rebuild if they allow us to," said Fish.
In time, she looks forward to this island returning to what it meant to be a beachfront paradise.
"I think people are going to come together and do what it takes to get this community back on its feet again," said Kirsch.
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