Two storms clobbered Florida’s Gulf Coast within two weeks of each other. Hurricanes Helene and Milton turned some folks’ houses and yards into sandboxes. Now homeowners and cities dig their way out.

When a hurricane heads toward Florida, most people think about powerful winds, rain, and waves. But storm surge (rising sea water) also brought in mounds of sand. In some areas, it piled up five feet high. 

The fine, white sand makes Florida’s beaches beautiful. But people don’t want it in their homes! 

After Hurricane Milton crashed ashore, sandbanks two feet high lined the roads of Bradenton Beach. The beach town looked a bit like the Midwest after a blizzard.

“The best way to describe it—it’s like getting four to six feet of snow up north,” says Jeremi Roberts. He’s a member of the State Emergency Response Team.

At one condo complex in Venice, dozens of volunteers dug all the sand out of the pool after Hurricane Helene. It took two days. Then Milton filled it back in.

Contractor Larry West is clearing sand and debris at one condo building in Manasota Key. 

Mr. West says he is not sure where to take the sand. A local park being used as a drop-off site was filling up. 

“Right now I’m building mountains in [the] parking area,” Mr. West says. 

In Pinellas County, the hurricanes moved huge amounts of sand off the beach. Kelli Hammer Levy works for the county. She hopes that people will reuse much of the sand. Officials encourage residents to cart their sand back to the beach—as long as it’s clean.

“We just need to remove debris. I’ve seen some piles out there with kitchen cabinets in it,” Ms. Levy says. “We’re going to have a problem if we have a lot of that stuff out there.”

In the meantime, Florida residents continue to dig. “Every shovelful is heavy,” says Mr. West.