TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — Tuesday, many streets, curbs and parking lots in Treasure Island were piled high with damaged items.
The piles come as the tiny barrier island community spent days drying out from the feet of storm surge that swept in with Hurricane Helene.
The city’s Police Chief John Barkley told 10 Tampa Bay very few were spared from the flooding.
"It affected almost every structure in the city,” he said, "Yeah, my house flooded. It sustained flood damage to my own personal home. A lot of other first responders are facing the same thing. So we're working long hours here and then we're going home and trying to take care of that."
At the West Winds Condominiums, the story was much the same as residents worked to clear several feet of debris in and around the community pool.
"The jewel of the unit is our pool facing the water,” Rick Matthews said.
And as neighbors worked to help each other save what they could in their units, they also planned out the timeline for their recovery.
“It's going to take a couple months because we're fighting for everybody's supplies,” he said.
Across the street, 10 Tampa Bay got a tour of Benjamin Studios. It’s a business that has stood through 19 years' worth of storms.
Its owner, Karen, said this would be their longest recovery to date. But despite it all she is also holding out hope that they can reopen, and soon.
"We're hairdressers. So, our clients… we have to cancel them all for a few weeks. Hopefully, we get it back and running in a month,” she said.
Tuesday, Treasure Island, and several other barrier islands in Pinellas County reopened to the public after being closed to just residents and essential workers.
With the reopening, Chief Barkley wanted to remind the public to be mindful of the level of loss people have experienced.
"They need to understand that people out on the island have lost everything. There's very little power out there. There's no sewer,” he said, “There's very little water pressure so you're dealing with people that are very stressed out. And they don't want you picking through their stuff and looking around and other things like that."
And as residents recover, he also wanted to deliver a message to those who might find curious people looking through items left outside.
"If it's being set out to dry out, it really should be closer to the house. Anything you put towards the curb, and you expect someone to pick that up for destruction that's not looting if someone is going through your junk pile or your garbage pile,” he said.