SIESTA KEY, Fla. − The power’s out for millions, the roof is blown off the baseball stadium, and the world-famous Salvador Dali museum is closed, all thanks to Hurricane Milton. But none of that stopped James and Jessica Dupont from bringing their four kids to the beach.
As the sun climbed into the blue sky less than a day after landfall, James dug his toes into the white sand and watched their young children play. Their house was essentially untouched, he said, but it was too hot to sit inside.
“It’s nicer out here,” he said as the rolling waves crashed ashore and seagulls squawked overhead.
Their trip to the beach underscores a small wave of possible good fortune for Sarasota County after the storm: Many of the area’s 35 miles of pristine beaches, visited by 6.5 million tourists from around the U.S., may have escaped Milton’s blow.
“Initial observations [show] public beach parks including Siesta Beach appear to have not been substantially impacted,” county spokesperson Genevieve Judge told USA TODAY. She cautioned, though, that Sarasota County is “still in the process of evaluating our local beaches for direct damage and impact.”