Hurricanes Helene and Milton Have torn up Paradise.

As many of you know, Ray and I spend winters in a cute little 2-bedroom mobile home decorated like a beach house in Sarasota, Florida. But we liked it better before Hurricane Milton ripped off its carport, tore off its front awning (and carried it away), shredded or blew away the porch’s screens, damaged some wall & ceiling, and tore up our big bougainvillea Bush.

We are very lucky, however, because most of our damage is on the outside. We are also fortunate that we knew Helene, and then Milton were threatening our part of the Florida Suncoast. So we decided to delay coming down here instead of coming like we usually do, October 1.

Our mobile home is in a 55-Plus trailer park with mixed use. Some of the homeowners are like us and only use their mobile homes here as winter homes (Floridians call us snowbirds). But others live here full-time and this is their only home. Rents are so high in Sarasota, and housing prices are out of reach for most single middle class workers. Trailer Parks like this one are a more reasonable option, especially for retirees. A lot of those full-time people, mostly retirees, weathered the storm inside their mobile homes.

Several told me it was terrifying, but they had always stayed, even when under the highest level evacuation orders. The truth for some of these lower middle-class owners is that they can’t afford to evacuate other than to a shelter here in town, and many have health or mobility issues and would need help to evacuate. These…