William Lopez was still cleaning debris and covering the roofs of homes damaged by Hurricane Helene about 40 minutes north of Tampa this week when the warnings about Hurricane Milton started to become dire.
He wrapped up his jobs and planned to drive to a city near Orlando, where he hoped to find a hotel. But it was more likely, he said, that he would have to hunker down in his truck in a public parking lot as Milton inched its way east.
In many areas, disaster recovery workers like Mr. Lopez are the backbone of hurricane cleanup. These day laborers descend on storm-ravaged areas across the country, looking for jobs removing fallen trees off roads, throwing out wet furniture, demolishing water-damaged walls and installing tarps on busted roofs.
While they work, they face many risks, like wage theft or breathing in harmful dust and mold. Sleeping in a vehicle for weeks at a time is not uncommon, either. Many of the laborers tend to avoid being in the vicinity of an impending storm, often arriving days later.
“It’s a sacrifice,” Mr. Lopez, who moved to the New Orleans area from Honduras, said in Spanish. He drove to Florida three days after Helene hit the state late last month. “But it’s worth it. We know that we’re going to get a lot of work and bring income to our families. And the biggest satisfaction is that we can help a city rebuild.”
Mr. Lopez said he planned to ride out Hurricane Milton in Florida and would very likely remain there to assist in the recovery. The storm roared back to Category 5 strength on Tuesday afternoon, and the Tampa Bay region was bracing for what could be its first direct hit from a major storm since the 1920s.
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