on construction type, as newer, elevated buildings fared much better than older structures nearer sea level. Waterfront restaurants were especially susceptible; winds blew out several large sliding-glass doors at one establishment, allowing both the winds and the tide to enter its interior. Elena severed the sole bridge to Cedar Key, temporarily isolating the city and stranding several residents. The Florida Department of Transportation hurriedly worked to make the bridge passable long enough to rescue the stranded individuals. The hurricane compromised several other roads, destroying a section of State Road 24. Monetary losses in Cedar Key alone were estimated at $2 million, and all major aspects of local infrastructure were severely affected, initially preventing residents from returning home to the island. At least 34 homes and businesses on the island were damaged or destroyed. Pinellas County suffered some of the worst damage from Hurricane Elena in Florida. At the height of the storm, over 500,000 of its residents were without electricity. Forty-four single-family homes were destroyed, 31 more were damaged, and several condominiums, townhouses, and commercial buildings were damaged or destroyed. The hurricane also wrecked or irreparably compromised nearly of coastal bulkheads and inflicted minor damage on more. Most of the affected seawalls were degrading or poorly reinforced. Seawalls with higher standards of construction generally remained intact, though even in those cases, overwash from the Gulf of Mexico topped the barriers and deposited large volumes of sand. The hurricane cost roughly $100 million in Pinellas County. Elena's track parallel to the Florida Panhandle subjected the coastline between Apalachicola and Pensacola Beach to particularly severe conditions that resulted in "significant" property damage there. In Apalachicola proper, winds tore large roofs off buildings, and data from Florida's Department of Natural Resources indicate that 20 residences and one community building in Franklin County were damaged or destroyed. Structural failure was prevalent along the county's waterfront and on islands such as Dog Island; however, it was mainly limited to poorly constructed buildings. Several miles of roadways in the county sustained significant damage, and about of bulkhead was destroyed. Low seawalls allowed crucial points of the causeway to St. George Island to erode, causing it to fail. In Escambia County, the hurricane left $2 million in damages. Throughout much of the remainder of the Florida Panhandle, structural damage was limited, though 100,000 people in the Pensacola area lost power. The configuration of the southern tip of