Latest news with #ConnieNoren
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Resident shares harrowing experience in aftermath of devastating hurricane: 'I've lost everything'
Those affected by the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season are still feeling the reverberations. One Florida resident shared her experience recovering from Hurricane Helene and her apprehensions for the future as hurricane seasons intensify as a result of rising temperatures. Residents are struggling to rebuild and relocate after Hurricane Helene. In Madeira Beach, Florida, many homes are still damaged and unlivable, and the 2025 hurricane season is approaching fast. "I've lost everything," former Madeira Beach resident Connie Noren told WFLA News. "Everything, I've lost all the memories, all the pictures, all the souvenirs. I've traveled a lot with being a military wife, and I've collected a lot of stuff. So, it's gone." Madeira Beach isn't the only city affected. All across Tampa Bay, repairs are still barely getting underway. Even with governmental assistance, the cost of home repairs is a massive roadblock, according to ABC Action News, especially as obtaining flood insurance checks is frustratingly difficult. Per the Weather Channel, hurricane season has only amplified in severity over the past decade, with storms each year exceeding the former average. In fact, 2015 marked the last hurricane season without a single storm making landfall. Ever since, the damage to land and residential infrastructure rates have soared. If hurricane damage continues to keep up this alarming pattern, we can expect insurance coverage to drop in at-risk areas and threats to infrastructure and home security to increase, making hurricanes both a financial and mortal risk. The rise in more intense hurricanes can be attributed to our warming planet. As we release more and more heat-trapping pollution into our atmosphere, Atlantic temperatures grow warmer, supercharging seasonal hurricanes. While federal and state assistance can help offset the costs of Hurricane Helene repairs, it's not a long-term fix. To protect ourselves from worsening hurricanes in the future, we need to cut down on our pollution output and focus on fortifying our urban and residential infrastructure. Installing solar panels in conjunction with battery power, for example, can simultaneously lower your reliance on fuel-based energy, save money on bills, and make your home more resilient against storms, since energy grids often go down in extreme weather conditions. Do you think your house could withstand a hurricane? No way Maybe a weak one I'm not sure It definitely could Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. If making upgrades seems daunting, services like EnergySage can help you get started in navigating the process and finding the best local installers. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
‘I've lost everything': 87-year-old widow still waiting on storm repairs
MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — We are less than a month away from the start of hurricane season, but for many in Pinellas County, they're still working to recover from last season's impact. Nearly seven months after Hurricane Helene, some residents at the Madeira Beach Yacht Club are still without permanent homes and are left waiting on permits while time runs out. Hurricane season starts on June 1. Right now, several of the condos remain unlivable, and many of them are homes of seniors who are still without permits. Connie Noren, 87, has called the Madeira Beach Yacht Club home for more than three decades, but last year's hurricane season changed everything. 'After 35 years, I thought that waters never came over the seawall before, so it'll be okay because I'm alone now, my husband just passed,' Noren said. 'Then I watched and I thought, Yeah, that water's coming over the sea wall.' As the storm surge moved in, she and her son found themselves trapped inside, but with help from her neighbor, she was able to escape. 'He came in through the back window of my unit and came in, and by then the water was up to here on me,' Noren said. 'It was kind of scary. I can swim, but I didn't know how I was going to get out of there.' She said the storm swallowed more than her furniture, it swept away a lifetime of memories. 'I've lost everything. Everything, I've lost all the memories, all the pictures, all the souvenirs. I've traveled a lot with being a military wife, and I've collected a lot of stuff. So, it's gone.' She's temporarily living upstairs thanks to a neighbor, but she'll have to be out by June, right as hurricane season ramps up again. For now, Connie is left navigating the red tape, the repairs and the reality of starting over at 87. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
