When Laurie Lilliott pulled onto her street in Dekle Beach, Florida, after Helene plowed through, she couldn’t see the roofline of her home beyond the palm trees. It had collapsed.

Towns and communities across Florida's Big Bend region began the long road to recovery on Friday, surveying the damage left in the wake of Category 4 Hurricane Helene.

And for a long time, hurricanes have been a fact of life ‒ and usually mild enough to ride out in town. Locals threw hurricane parties, cracking open beers and howling defiance at the wind.