MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — As Hurricane Ian swept through Manatee County, local farmers say they took a big hit.

From animals to infrastructure, officials say the loss and damage are unprecedented.

When Hurricane Ian went through Manatee County, farmers say they were left with damages at a level they have never seen before. And as families work to clean up, one local dairy farm has been a hub of giving back and at the same time trying to rebuild.

For Courtney Dakin, the tour guide on her family's farm, the days are meshing together. 

“Day four day five — what are we on?” Dakin asked. “(There are) Amazing volunteers in here to help me out."

Dakin said she's used to being pretty busy, but nothing like this.

“It's amazing, I mean, this community shows up for us every single time,” she said.

The farm’s café has been set up as a place to pick up and drop off donations for the community.

“People want to help," Dakin said. "So, if we can be the center hub for that, we are more than happy."

Dakin and her family are also trying to help their neighbors get supplies to work on the damages to their homes and properties.

“We also found a big need for fencing," she said. "That’s a really big thing — a lot of these people are finding. And then, tarps to cover their roofs until the insurance companies can get out."

As people donate food, water, clothes and other basics inside, Dakin said that outside on her family’s property is a heartbreaking reality.

They lost more than 250 cows from the hurricane and suffered extensive damage to their property.

Dakin said it was like nothing they had ever experienced and is the worst damage she has ever seen on her family’s farm.

“It came out and sat on top of Myakka for 8 hours,”  she said. “On our farm, we took a big hit. We sit on 1,200 acres here. We got about 15 to 18 structures here on the property.

"I mean, there was not a single structure that wasn’t affected by the storm."

She said those structures are important to keep the cows healthy.

“That is one of our biggest needs right now, is getting building supplies so we can get these roofs back on for these girls, because cows don’t sweat as we do, so they look to us to regulate the body temperatures,” Dakin said.

Surveying damage is not a tour she likes to have to give while she’s doing her part to get the farm back on its feet.

Neighbors like Dan Creek say they aren’t letting anything get in the way of helping.

“When we saw Dakin Farms put out a call for some support, we just mobilized and did what we could to help,” he said.

As for Dakin, even though the family farm is far from repaired, she said their sense of community spirit is far from breaking.

“We are going to do our best to stay involved in the community as long as they need us to be,” she said.

For now, Dakin said the work of rebuilding both the farm and the community — sun up to sundown — never stops. That’s just what farmers do, she said, adding that medical supplies are on the way to help treat some of the cows that are sick from the storm.