ENGLEWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Sand is piling up to the first floors of most homes on Manasota Key, a stretch of land off Florida’s west coast where devastation is widespread.

NBC News got an exclusive look at the south end of the Key on Sunday, accompanied by Charlotte County officials.

The community is about 30 miles south of where Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday, across a bay from Englewood, between Fort Myers and Sarasota.

The key is locked to vehicles, but residents are allowed in on foot, some walking miles in carts to salvage what they can. Many find their houses gutted and full of sand.

This “Old Florida” community is comprised of many waterfront homes that have been passed down from generation to generation. That’s the case for Kris Hleuka, whose grandfather built her house on Sand Dollar Lane. Now sand fills the first story.

“This is my life story,” she said.

As one storm after another hits the state, Hleuka watches as her home is torn apart. For many in the community, home insurance is not an option.

“After Ian we completely remodeled the house. “I’m not doing this again,” she said. “We can’t afford that kind of insurance down on the beach.”

Key residents are “shocked and grieving” that their little piece of paradise is gone, said Brenda Kreuger, a friend of Hleuka’s who lives in Englewood.

Jay and Pam Hager have owned a timeshare at Sea Oats Beach Club for decades. The property, once an oasis in a quiet part of the Gulf, is now buried under 4 feet of sand.

“It feels like we’re in a movie,” Jay Hager said. “It just doesn’t seem real. I’ve been coming here for 40 years and have never seen anything like it.”

Officials are working to remove piles of sand that have filled the roads so Manasota Key can reopen.

“Houses have been decimated. They went to the Gulf and we didn’t have that at Helene,” said Ben Bailey, community development director for Charlotte County.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. Most people who live here have never seen anything like this either,” Bailey said.

Charlotte County Public Works Director John Elias said the storm “certainly changed the geography” of the Key.

Five days after Milton made landfall, more than 750,000 Floridians are still without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

At least 24 people have died as a result of the storm, according to an NBC News count of confirmed deaths.

President Joe Biden toured the damage in St. Petersburg on Sunday and pledged $600 million for recovery from hurricanes Milton and Helene, with nearly $100 million of that going toward improvements to Florida’s power system.