Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch Director Kristen Mazzarella told the Herald-Tribune that wildlife on the island also suffered losses. She said that a record-setting number of sea turtle nests laid on AMI this year has been devastated, first by Hurricane Debby and finished off by Helene.

Anna Maria Island was among the areas hit hard by Hurricane Helene. The small island was underwater, with 100% of single family homes seeing 3-4 feet of floodwaters.

Anna Maria Island remains under a curfew with access limited to residents, business owners and first responders. Hurricane Helene ravaged Manatee County’s barrier island as it twisted through the Gulf of Mexico last Thursday before it made direct landfall near Perry in Florida’s Big Bend region.