Old Florida using new tactics to rebuild

AccuWeather

One community along Florida's Gulf Coast is raising their roofs, literally, as they rebuild to become more hurricane resilient. AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson has the story.

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00:00to lift that because you can see they're digging around for some life after a hurricane means

00:08building higher in the hopes their dream home will survive another hurricane season. You can see a lot

00:14of work is being done in this neighborhood and and really all aspects of recovery you can see on

00:20these these two streets built in the 1950s the Tradewinds community was one of the first

00:25developments on Sanibel Island. This community has weathered many major hurricanes from Charlie to Ian

00:31and last year Helene and then Milton. After a series of back-to-back hurricanes they become more creative

00:38and resilient either putting their homes 10 feet up on stilts or demolishing and having to start over

00:44in the hopes of keeping their homes intact. When Helene and Milton hit it really skyrocketed. We had a ton

00:52of business. I think right now we've got about 120 jobs in permitting. Though the demand is high, raising the roof

00:58is also expensive. At about $120 a square foot, a home this size can cost anywhere from $150 to $200,000

01:08to raise 10 feet. You know where you have over 10 feet of storm surge coming through a neighborhood,

01:14upwards of 13 and 15 feet in some places, there's no way to get away from that other than to be above

01:21that water. City officials say this community is just one slice of old Florida that is committed to

01:27rebuilding after a series of consecutive hurricanes. It will hopefully help people in the future investing

01:33not only in their homes but in the island life that this part of southwest Florida is known for. On Sanibel Island,

01:41I'm Leslie Hudson reporting.

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