Yesterday, Captain Ryan Harrington, who runs Reel Estate Charters in Tampa Bay and lives in St. Petersburg, drove back to check on his two properties after Hurricane Milton. He and his family had evacuated following an exhausting stretch of eighteen-hour days helping the community clean up from Helene. “We aren’t even close to rebuilding and we are literally tossing people’s homes a wheelbarrow at a time into their front yards,” he wrote on Facebook at the time, “only to see the next one coming up to our front door. It’s a slap in the face to all our hard work.”
Harrington is one of many fishing guides in Florida reckoning with damage from not one but two hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast in the span of two weeks. “Since the impacts from the storms are spread around, we are trying to elevate those that have experienced significant losses and really need the help,” says Alycia Downs, the director of education and outreach for Captains for Clean Water, a nonprofit that fights to restore and protect Florida’s water resources through advocacy and a network of guides across the state. Starting in the aftermath of Helene, the organization has been contacting those guides, verifying their safety.
Harrington shows a high water line left in the wake of Helene.
As Captains for Clean Water keeps an eye on the high nutrient levels of Lake Okeechobee, which could contribute to a future algal bloom, they are also helping guides on the ground. To get aid directly to those in need, the organization is throwing its weight behind Captains Collective, a popular fishing podcast hosted by Hunter Leavine in the Big Bend of Florida. Already, Leavine is at work spotlighting captains impacted by Helene on his page and facilitating donations directly to them through his Captains Collective Guide Relief Initiative. There’s Captain Trey Mikell in Waccasassa Bay, for one, who sustained severe flood damage to his property and Captain Brandon Branch of Crystal River, where Helene took out the local marina. Captain Les Hernandez in Steinhatchee lost his home.
Now, the effects of Milton are emerging. After Harrington returned to St. Petersburg yesterday, severe flooding prevented him from even reaching his first property, where a family that had lost everything during Helene was staying. His own home was without power or water and had sustained damage to the roof and shed from fallen trees. Now, he’s preparing to dive into clean up and recovery efforts—again. “Honestly, I don’t have a free second to not be out here helping, neck deep in mold, sand, saltwater, and sweat,” he says. So far, between the two storms, he’s helped fifty-seven families (all on his own dime). Last night, in the dark, he and his family gathered around a cake to celebrate his daughter’s second birthday.
Donate to Captains for Clean Water here, and find their suggestions of how to support hurricane relief efforts here. Donate to Harrington here.
