One community along Florida's Gulf Coast is 'raising the roof' as they rebuild to become more hurricane resilient. AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson has the details.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00One community along Florida's Gulf Coast is raising the roofs literally as they rebuild to become more hurricane resilient.
00:07Accuilla's Leslie Hudson has the details.
00:11To lift that, because you can see they're digging around.
00:16For some, life after a hurricane means building higher in the hopes their dream home will survive another hurricane season.
00:24You can see a lot of work is being done in this neighborhood, and really all aspects of recovery.
00:30You can see on these two streets.
00:32Built in the 1950s, the Tradewinds community was one of the first developments on Sanibel Island.
00:38This community has weathered many major hurricanes, from Charlie to Ian and last year Helene and then Milton.
00:45After a series of back-to-back hurricanes, they become more creative and resilient,
00:50either putting their homes 10 feet up on stilts or demolishing and having to start over in the hopes of keeping their homes intact.
00:57When Helene and Milton hit, it really skyrocketed.
01:02We had a ton of business.
01:04I think right now we've got about 120 jobs in permitting.
01:06Though the demand is high, raising the roof is also expensive.
01:11At about $120 a square foot, a home this size can cost anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 to raise 10 feet.
01:21You know, where you have over 10 feet of storm surge coming through a neighborhood, upwards of 13 and 15 feet in some places,
01:29there's no way to get away from that other than to be above that water.
01:33City officials say this community is just one slice of old Florida that is committed to rebuilding after a series of consecutive hurricanes.
01:41And will hopefully help people in the future.
01:43Investing not only in their homes, but in the island life that this part of southwest Florida is known for.
01:50On Sanibel Island, I'm Leslie Hudson reporting.