Floridians in Steinhatchee lose everything to Hurricane Idalia

Oct 21, 2023

STEINHATCHEE — From the window of their home nestled across from the marina, Charlie Norwood and his family watched, helplessly, as everything he worked for his whole life was washed away.

During a Florida summer there are three things residents can count on: sweltering heat, stifling humidity and hurricanes.

Residents in the small, coastal town of Steinhatchee who are used to the unpredictability of a storm shrugged their shoulders and prepared the best they could as Hurricane Idalia steadily marched their way.

No stranger to Florida’s inclement weather, Norwood, the owner of the small town’s landmark Sea Hag Marina, said Idalia was unlike any other storm he’s seen.

“There was way more wind, way more water,” Norwood said. “That was the biggest difference — the uncertainty and the intensity.”

All it took was 15 minutes.

An unstoppable storm surge, that Norwood estimated to be at least six feet, flooded his store and destroyed his docks.

"It was gone in a flash," he said.

Terrifying winds with gusts around 80 to 90 miles per hour set in around 3 a.m. and escalated every hour, he said.

“When will it end?” he wondered.

The same question went through the minds of others who chose to stay and brave the storm.

Fearfully tucked away in her closet, Laura Currier waited out the storm’s wailing winds and unrelenting rain.

It feels like a severe storm comes almost every year, she said, but nothing compared to this.

“I’ve been through a lot of hurricanes, but this was definitely the scariest,” Currier said.

She lost power, but said she managed to still have cell service. Currier hunkered down in her closet on a mutually consoling phone call with her neighbors who hid in their pantry.

While many residents of the town originally planned to stick it out in their homes, Norwood said, the consistent forecast showing that Idalia was undoubtedly coming their way caused many to think twice.

But for those who did stay, first responders from the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team came as soon as they could to check in on residents who may still be trapped or need medical attention.

“The first 72 hours after a storm are the most crucial,” said David Varona, a firefighter.

The team of Miami-Dade firefighters began their “hasty search” marking houses and businesses on their GPS as they go by. The markings are for FEMA and help pinpoint the areas with the greatest amount of damage.

This first part of the search is usually quick and gives them a lay of the land, Bill Licea said. Then they slow down and knock on every door.

Licea and Varona are a part of an 80-person team sent to survey Steinhatchee. They’ve been sent everywhere to help towns with natural disaster relief from storms like last year’s Hurricane Ian to Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2021.

“I survived Hurricane Andrew back when I was a kid,” Licea said. “So, I know what it's like to lose your property, lose your house, have your roof ripped off.”

As firefighters, helping people is what they do, he said. But locals banding together is what jumpstarts the healing and rebuilding process.

In a town with less than 600 people, residents note that the support from a tight-knit community is what will help keep everyone afloat as they face many months of recovery.

As day dawned Thursday, Norwood took to the long cleanup ahead. Workers are coming to put his docks back together and employees, family and friends are helping to scrape the three-inch layer of sludge left behind, gut the store and throw everything away.

With any luck, some things may be salvageable.

“We have some great people who live here and help us,” Norwood said. “That’s the best part about it.”

As the clouds clear and the water continues to recede, the weight of the unquantifiable damage hangs heavy on the shoulders of the town.

Steinhatchee was eerily quiet in the wake of the storm.

People stood in their yards processing the loss of their homes and wondered how a bay that gave them so many fond memories could so easily take them away.

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Elena Barrera can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @elenabarreraaa.