(NewsNation) — Homes in Keaton Beach, Florida, were leveled as Category 4 Hurricane Helene ripped through the Gulf Coast community.
The storm made landfall Thursday night, ripping homes from their foundation and flooding neighborhoods with an estimated 15 feet of storm surge, according to the National Hurricane Center.
NewsNation spoke with a resident named Missy, whose property was leveled in the “massive” storm she says has made the area “unrecognizable.”
“It’s so overwhelming, I can’t even begin to describe it. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, I’ve ever seen. We’ve been through several storms here, and this is like nothing I would’ve ever imagined,” she said.
A local news station says officials estimate 90% of the homes there were destroyed after Helene made landfall.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to come back from this … it’s a lot. This is our happy place,” Missy told NewsNation. She said that “most everyone we know” evacuated the area prior to the storm.
At least 40 people have died across four states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina — as a result of the hurricane. Millions remain without power.
Watch: 90% of Keaton Beach, Florida, homes destroyed in Hurricane Helene, report says