When Hurricane Helene battered Florida’s Gulf Coast this week, one of the hardest-hit areas was the small town of Steinhatchee, which was overwhelmed by a 10-foot storm surge and 140 mph winds. Most of the town’s 500 residents evacuated the area — and returned to find their homes and businesses destroyed.

The small arboreal lumber town of Perry, Florida, has become a magnet for hurricanes and the suffering that comes in the aftermath.