When ankle-deep floodwaters from Hurricane Helene bubbled up through the floors of their home, Kat Robinson-Malone and her husband sent a late-night text message to their neighbors two doors down: “Hey, we’re coming.”
The couple waded through the flooded street to the elevated front porch of Chris and Kara Sundar, whose home was built on higher ground, handing over their eight-year-old daughter and a gas-powered generator.
The Sundars’ house in southern Tampa also became a refuge for Brooke and Adam Carstensen, whose house next door to Robinson-Malone’s also flooded. The three families met years earlier when their children became playmates.
As Helene and Hurricane Milton struck Floridawithin two weeks, the neighbors closed ranks, cooking meals together, taking turns watching children, and cleaning …