AccuWeather experts estimate the total damage and economic loss from back-to-back hurricane strikes in Florida is approaching $400 billion
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00:00Two major hurricane landfalls in two weeks have taken a toll on people's nerves and their wallets across Florida.
00:09It's a madhouse in there right now. They're out of water, they're out of toilet paper generators.
00:13Piles of furniture, clothes and belongings destroyed by storm surge and flooding from Hurricane Helene lined countless curbs along the Gulf Coast.
00:21We were very concerned about the debris because it's going to create projectiles, it's going to create battering rams.
00:28We got up as much as we possibly could operationally.
00:33Milton pushed a wall of water into Sarasota as it made landfall.
00:37Downtown streets were submerged in feet of storm surge in a matter of minutes.
00:43We already flooded from the last one and it wasn't even coming at us so we really don't know what to do.
00:48People who call this place home say this is usually paradise.
00:51They love living along Florida's Gulf Coast, but life near the water is becoming more risky and more expensive.
00:58It just seems the weather has been getting worse year to year.
01:02Before this storm it was difficult for people to get insurance. The rates have skyrocketed.
01:09AccuWeather's preliminary estimate for the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Milton is between $160 and $180 billion.
01:19Weeks earlier, Hurricane Helene slammed the Big Bend of Florida before causing catastrophic flooding in the mountains of the southern Appalachians.
01:28AccuWeather estimates the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Helene is between $225 and $250 billion.
01:37In the mountains they need that help still. They don't have food, they don't have water, their houses are demolished and they're not prepared for the hurricanes like Florida is.
01:46I don't know, my heart goes out and we're just hoping for the best.
01:49And hoping to catch a break in a record-shattering hurricane season that is far from over.
01:55In Sarasota, Florida, for AccuWeather, I'm Bill Waddell.