DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For Bella Robinson, who was born and raised in Volusia County, said understanding Florida’s hurricane season is simple.

“If you live here, then you know there is no really getting ahead of it,” she said. “It’s gonna come, year after year. It’s gonna be the same every year, if not worse than the year before.”


What You Need To Know

  • Volusia County resident Bella Robinson lost her first-floor apartment and SUV during hurrican season last year

  • Robinson said she wants to pay more attention to is insurance and advises other residents to do the same

  • Robinson said there’s no use agonizing about hurricane season and to get ready for the worst, but hope for the best

Last year, Robinson said her first-floor apartment flooded and she lost her SUV to water damage. 

“We legitimately kayaked down the streets to friends’ houses,” Robinson said on Sunday morning in-between prepping silverware at Adam’s Egg in Daytona Beach, where she works as a server.

Using her cell phone, Robinson showed Spectrum News some video footage of flooded streets in her neighborhood in the days after Hurricane Ian. She said her hurricane experience last fall recently motivated her to move to a second-story unit.

“I moved to a second-story house. When I moved, there was no way I was going to move to a first-story anywhere in Central Florida, because everywhere flooded,” Robinson said. 

She’s realistic about what’s necessary in order to stay safe living along the Central Florida coast.

“We get our insurance, move to a second-story house and get sandbags. There’s not really much else you can do, you know?” Robinson said.

Moving forward, insurance is one area Robinson said she wants to pay more attention to.

When she lost her SUV in last year’s hurricanes, she said her auto insurance plan didn’t cover any of the damage or the cost of a replacement car, which she finally got only recently.

“You know that huge (insurance) packet they give you? I didn’t read it. So, I mean, I probably could’ve known,” Robinson said. “So, it’s probably another thing you could do to prepare, is make sure you have (the) right insurance. Make sure you read it fully.”

But all-in-all, Robinson said there’s no use agonizing about hurricane season. If you live in Central Florida–or most anywhere in the state–it’s just part of life. The best thing you can do is get ready for the worst and hope for the best.

“You can’t get mad at the storm. It happens every single year,” Robinson said. “So just get prepared for it, as best you can.”