This beautiful state is known for its warm climate, cool beaches, and amazing amusement parks, especially Walt Disney World in Florida! The main detail everyone knows about Florida is there are horrific hurricanes. The amount of deconstruction, devastation, and death lost from these hurricanes is miserable. 

A recent hurricane has occurred: Hurricane Helene. A category five hurricane that started forming on September 24, 2024, this insane tropical storm caused fear as it was expected to hit NorthWest, Florida. Many were told to evacuate but one company contemplated.

Walt Disney was open for only a few hours before the hurricane hit on September 25, 2024. Before the hurricane hit, many on social media found it ridiculous that Walt Disney kept their doors open and customers were still attending during the tropical storm. A student from Agua Fria High School, Andrea Nesselrode was in Florida during the hurricane. She described her time in Florida as eventful. During her time in Walt Disney World Floridians around her acted like it was a normal day and the hurricane wasn’t going to do that much damage to Walt Disney because of the way the park is structured, while tourists were nervous as many had never experienced a natural disaster like this.  

Once Hurricane Helene began it tore down everything in its path. Many found the experience to be very traumatic. Even though many evacuated, and went to shelters, many lives were lost from Hurricane Helene. Many Floridians haven’t seen this tragedy since Hurricane Milton and Katrina.  

Even Though safety precautions were taken this left Florida in ruins. Many businesses, schools, homes, and lives just wash away from this natural disaster. Andrea describes the aftermath as depressing “ Seeing all of the places gone shows how quickly things can change”. People all over the country wonder how Florida is going to recover. 

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has sent an update on the recovery of Hurricane Helene. The government created organizations of nonprofits to help the communities in need. The main goal is to get people back on their feet and have a strong community. But in other parts of Florida, barely any help has been given. Many families are struggling to survive because of the different losses they have had.  Though it’s been a month since the Hurricane hit, people will never recover from this day. A state that has the happiest place on earth is in a state of suffering.