HOLMES BEACH, Fla. — The Holmes Beach shoreline is often a sight for the sore eyes of vacationers who flock to the community year-round.
But Monday, that same stretch of land brought tears to the eyes of its police chief, Bill Tokajer, as he toured the devastation Hurricane Helene left behind.
"This shook me to my core. This is the community I love. And to see the devastation... it's heartbreaking. You know, you see the people's faces and they've lost everything, it's heartbreaking," he said.
According to Tokajer, every single-story home in the community took on at least three feet of storm surge.
Though that water has receded. the sand that remains is now one of their biggest issues.
As the community digs itself out — Chief Tokajer warned folks who don't need to be there to stay away.
"If you don't have a purpose to be here stay off the island. Because you coming out here without a purpose, you're causing the people that have a purpose to stand in traffic," he said. "So, if you're not a homeowner, if you're not a business owner, if you're not coming down here to perform some type of service stay off the island. We don't want ya, we don't need ya."
That warning also extended to vacation rental homeowners — who he said have been trying to force people with existing vacation reservations to keep them, despite the paradise they paid for is currently inaccessible.
"I've reached out first to Governor Ron DeSantis's office, and he had [Attorney General] Ashley Moody's chief of staff call me. I explained to him what's going on and he said he's going to come up with some wording to help us prohibit the use of vacation rental," he said.
As Holmes Beach rebuilds — the chief also said the island's 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew will remain in place.
Tokajer added that they'll take things "week by week," but he anticipates that the curfew could stay in place for a few months at this point.
