It is rare for me to be at a loss for words and be speechless, but Hurricane Helene certainly did that for me. As each day passes since she paid her visit, I become more and more horrified, shocked and filled with heartbreak when I see the havoc she created everywhere in her path. I see all the damage and how quickly she ruined lives in our own Tampa Bay area. Homes destroyed, businesses wiped out, lives lost, damages that are simply unbelievable. People’s lives changed forever because of her wrath on their lives, memories, hard work and health.

Then you see all she did in the Big Bend area and it is even worse as her anger and rage just went on and one to affect the people of George, Sdouth Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and more. Helene, for all intents and purposes was not a Cat 5, but was just as bad, if not worse. To see what this raging storm did over 3- 400 miles away from Florida is just something you are not prepared for. It is a storm that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to repair, rebuild and put lives back together again.

To see the images around Tampa Bay of homes flooded, sand everywhere, lives turned upside down, areas looking like a third world country after a war just leaves you speechless. It wasn’t even a direct hit here, but the raging waters of the deadly storm surge that created the damage here. But Helene wasn’t finished once she beat down Florida as her rage continued on. Then you see the remains northward in the Carolinas, especially western North Carolina and you thank God that you are still one of the lucky ones who got spared. Those pictures of a beautiful Lake Lure in Chimney Rock, North Carolina after Helene paid a visit will make you cry. This once beautiful tourist/vacation spot’s once beautiful lake is now filled with furniture, clothes, parts of homes, appliances and millions of other pieces of debris from all the damage done. It is sickening. Then there is Asheville, OMG! I could go on, but you all have seen what Helene has left behind everywhere.

But now it is time for me to send out a BIG THANK YOU, to our own people in Tampa Bay and how they have come together. Not just neighbor helping neighbor, but businesses like Wal Mart, Lowes, food trucks, laundromats, cleaning services, our three pro teams Rays, Bucs and Lightning with their million dollar pledges to aid in the recovery and so many more businesses big and small. The offer of free food, cleaning supplies, clothes, places to shower, to clean up, comfort stations and so much more. Benefit events to help raise funds to help out, donations from far and wide it all helps and also brings us together as one big family at a time when it is needed most in this crazy world we live in. It’s a time where political choices, sex choices, skin color and financial status don’t mean a damn thing. It is at times like this that make our country strong and the outpouring of help throughout Tampa Bay has been incredible and each day brings even more.

So, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone involved in these efforts to help in any way possible, to rebuild. We are Tampa Bay strong, we are Florida strong!

Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN