The landmark is five feet tall and approximately 400 pounds. People who walk on the beach pause to pray when they pass it. Friends who know how close the Tolberts are to the Gulf of Mexico often ask: “Aren’t you afraid of hurricanes?”

“We’ve got faith,” Sheila answers, “and we’ve got our Holy Mother watching over us.”

A Storm Amidst Sorrow

The Tolberts, parishioners of St. Patrick Parish in Largo, have been married 45 years. In September, they had “a bad couple of weeks,” Sheila said.

One of their dogs was hit by a car; the vet could not save him. Then, Mike’s 93-year-old father died. Mike traveled to Dallas to prepare for the funeral while Sheila prepared for a storm: Hurricane Helene.

She had been through many storms. So had her statue.

“Because we have to evacuate,” Sheila said, “the first thing we look for when we get back is Mary.”

Returning Home

On September 26 and 27, Helene impacted areas in the Diocese of Saint Petersburg. On September 28, Sheila returned home.

Her pool and backyard were gone. So was the statue.

The waves that destroyed many of their neighbors’ belongings also “were moving thousand-pound pieces of concrete,” according to Mike.

Sheila wondered: “Is [Mary] in a million pieces?”

Then, Sheila looked down and spotted part of Mary peeking out from the sand.

As she stood next to piles of debris, peace overcame her.

“So what? I lost a pool and a backyard,” she realized. “So many people have lost so much more.”

The Aftermath — And Another Storm

After Helene, news sources reported hundreds of deaths across several states due to the powerful storm.

In the Diocese of Saint Petersburg, 12 schools and early childhood centers plus 18 churches sustained damage, according to a statement released by Bishop Gregory Parkes on October 2. Catholic Charities’ homeless shelters were also hit hard.

St. Brendan Parish on Clearwater Beach, and St. John Vianney Parish on St. Pete Beach, both canceled Masses due to damage. St. John Vianney School, which sustained catastrophic damage, moved its students to the Cathedral School of St. Jude, St. Petersburg Catholic High School, and the diocesan Pastoral Center.

Parishioners, clergy, and religious throughout the diocese were forced to relocate or rebuild.

Within days of beginning the recovery from Helene, the Tolberts and others throughout the diocese prepared for another storm: Hurricane Milton.

Milton made landfall just south of our diocese on Wednesday, October 9.

Parishes that had already sustained damage from Hurricane Helene endured more damage from Milton.

During Helene, St. John Vianney encountered storm surge flooding from 14 inches to 4-1/2 feet in every building, according to a social media post by the parish’s pastor, Father Victor Amorose. Milton shattered windows at the parish and destroyed roofs and fences.

The Bishop W. Thomas Larkin Pastoral Center suffered shattered windows after Milton, and the St. James Chapel at the Bethany Center in Lutz was flooded. Several parishes experienced roof leaks and wind damage and were left with no power and no utilities for several days.

Many parishioners across the diocese endured similar damage to their homes and, in some cases, their dwellings were entirely destroyed.

After the storm, Bishop Parkes visited damaged parishes and assured the diocese of his prayers.

“While we pick up the pieces of the broken lives in our midst,” he said in his statement after Helene, “we also turn to our Lord and trust in Him.”

The Tolberts’ Mary statue reminds them to do that.

A Reason to Hope

The statue had been buried so deeply during Helene that retrieving it required excavators. A seven-inch thick concrete slab had settled on top of Mary’s head. But the statue remained intact.

Finding it “provides relief,” Mike said, “and hope for the future.”

The crew that helped to excavate the statue moved it to the Tolberts’ front yard.

When Milton approached less than two weeks later, the Tolberts gathered “many strong friends and a big hand truck,” Sheila said.

They moved the statue into their garage, where it stayed safe during Milton.

“She will proudly be placed in the same spot she held before when all the work is done [to repair the damage the storms caused],” Sheila said. “Through it all, Mary stands tall and protects us.”