After the rainfall from Hurricane Debby washed through Sarasota in 2024, some homes in the Amish-Mennonite village of Pinecraft sat underneath nearly 10 feet of water.
After the storm surge from Hurricane Helene, some sections of the barrier islands were uninhabitable for months, and businesses on St. Armands Circle were pushed to the brink.
At Celery Fields, the county’s primary flood control facility, a critical gate was left open during Hurricane Debby, exacerbating the floodwaters for hundreds of middle-class homes nearby…