After two back-to-back storms, evacuations and flooding, our reporter asks that question.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: October 16, 2024
Host: Milton wrecked the Lido Beach condo building that is the main residence of a couple in their 80s. Do they want to continue to live in Sarasota? Ramon Lopez asked them.
Ramon Lopez: Van and Marion Coufoudakis are no strangers to hurricanes, being long term residents of Lido Beach since retiring as university academics from Indiana. They have returned to their third-story condo on the famed beach, facing a cleanup and uncertain future, and they describe what they found. This is their story.
Van Coufoudakis: I’m Van Coufoudakis, and I’m a professor emeritus at Indiana University.
RL: And this is not your first rodeo, as they would say.
VC: No. Hurricane Helene forced us to evacuate, of course. And that was quite an experience, because we found shelter in a Ramada on US-41, just north of the airport, a hotel that flooded, and the fire department had to come and rescue us out of that building, and got into the water and helped us all to higher ground and drier.
The waist-high waterline from flooding is visible at a St. Armands Circle store. Photo: Diana Bregman
Marion Coufoudakis: So there we were, at 9:30 at night with the hurricane outside, going into the hurricane, driving around to hotels and trying to find a place to stay. Fortunately, I have a very dear cousin who lives in the Renaissance, and I called her and she said, you need to come here, you and your family.
VC: When the evacuation orders came, we knew we had to pack and get out and we did that the first day of the evacuation. This time we were able to go to a relative’s condo. And we managed to be there.
MC: Well, originally we were going to Ohio.
VC: Yes, and the Hyatt, of course.
MC: And they just closed down, the municipality closed down all those North Trail hotels.
VC: Well, we have no front yard. It is covered with sand and has destroyed all the brand new work we had done for the yard from all the sand. What are they doing with the sand? I have no idea.
We got water in the elevator because the elevator cab was on the first floor. I mean, on the ground floor. And, in the second evacuation, with the last hurricane, we were able to get the elevator up to the third floor, lock it on the third floor, and avoid any more damage. The damage is very serious from what I have seen. Again, I’m not an expert in damage control, but what you see in terms of what has happened to St. Armand’s Circle, the shops, the restaurants and all that, the damage is very serious.
Flooding on Lido Key after Milton. Still shot Sarasota County Sheriff video
RL: What is your feeling now about your move from Indiana to St. Armand’s?
VC: I still like what we have here, and I hope we don’t have to abandon Sarasota.
MC: You know, nobody likes to face what we’ve faced these last two times. I mean, there are people who, their livelihoods are gone. Everything they’ve worked for all their lives is gone, you know. It’s a big swath of value taken out of their lives.
VC: I’m uneasy about the rumors that are flying around, both about what causes hurricanes and all that. But we still love Lido and I hope to stay here.
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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