CRYSTAL RIVER, FL (352today.com) – The City of Crystal River is doing its best to ‘hang in there’ after being punched by back-to-back storms.

Just six weeks ago, on Aug. 30, Hurricane Idalia devastated the coastal community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DaSMv9IVnk?si=28I_0wHxs3f2fiGb

Then Thursday morning around 2:26 a.m., severe storms along with a tornado cut through the westside of the Citrus County community.

The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) says the twister touched down near the Plantation Resort as an EF-2 with estimated wind speeds between 111 to 135 mph. CCSO says the tornado tracked more than three miles, ending its destructive path east of Turkey Oak.

Doug Baber, the Crystal River City Manager, says an apartment complex was completely wiped out.

“We’re trying to take care of anybody who was displaced due to the storm that we had this week, and we are still trying to help people get back into their homes from the previous storm from Idalia,” said Baber.

NEW PHOTOS: Confirmed tornado destroys homes, businesses and uproots trees, lives in Crystal River

You can imagine the process hasn’t been easy.

“It’s been tough on our staff. We do have a resilient community; as well as an employee base, that are working very hard and tirelessly to get things back together,” said Baber.  “We basically got cleaned up from one and now another one’s happened,” added Baber.

Despite the circumstances, he says everyone has been eager to help.

The American Red Cross is assisting, providing hotel vouchers.

The tornado’s twisting winds uprooted trees and downed power poles. At one point, Baber says around 2,500 people were without electricity. Duke Energy crews have been working hard to restore power.

“The city right now is filled with power trucks. They are basically rebuilding the entire infrastructure and power grid,” shared Crystal River Mayor Joe Meek on his Facebook page.

As if this wasn’t enough, Mother Nature threatened again Thursday afternoon – this time flooding.

The city’s high tide was at 4 p.m.

The heavy rain along with wind-pushed water combined for an anticipated 3 to 4′ storm surge.

Low-lying streets flooded. But Mayor Joe Meek said it was ‘manageable’ and that water didn’t breach homes and businesses.

Around 5 p.m. Thursday, Meek announced the reopening of U.S. Highways 44 and 19.

The Citrus County School District (CCSD) also announced late Thursday that kids would return to school on Friday. “After assessing our school campuses on the west side of our county – we are happy to report that all schools will be in session for Friday, October 13th,” said CCSD on its Facebook page.

The road to recovery
“Tomorrow, we start the process of rebuilding again, and as I’ve said this before we’re going to be stronger for it,” said Mayor Meek.

As evidence of that, the city announced Thursday night that its Scarecrow Festival will go on as scheduled this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Baber says he is in the process of getting an emergency declaration signed in response to the tornado. But Baber knows it will take more than that for the city’s businesses to overcome the financial impact of the disastrous double whammy. The community established a fundraiser following Hurricane Idalia to help the downtown business community recover. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.

Around 7 p.m., Mayor Meek posted a final update to his Facebook page expressing gratitude to the citizens, emergency responders and city staff. He ended expressing optimism for the future.

“I know a lot of folks are down in the dumps from having experienced a hurricane and a flood and now tornadoes. But, we’re going to be okay,” said Meek. “Crystal River is going to be better for it. We’re tough. We’re strong. And, I’m just so proud of our city.”