Craig Huegel climbed into his golf cart Wednesday morning at the Botanical Gardens, with coffee in his cup holder and a shovel in his gloved hands.

“There’s never been anything like this,” Huegel, the gardens’ lead curator, said as he surveyed the medicinal garden “ruined” by Hurricane Milton. 

He said the Gardens will stay closed to the public until the first Tuesday of November — but it will not look the same. 

Related: OPINION: More students should use the USF Botanical Gardens 

The storm erased 80% of the wildflower and medicinal gardens he curated, Huegel said. The plants he collected across Florida for two years were erased within days. 

On Wednesday, over 100 volunteers came to help Huegel clean up the Gardens in the wake of the storm.

He said the number of people helping out the Gardens’ staff gave him hope.

“It’s impossible to describe because this place is near and dear to my heart,” Huegel said. 

One of the volunteers was Botanical Gardens Club president Carolina Gutfreund. She said she came back from Miami on Tuesday night to help clean the gardens. 

Using BullsConnect, Gutfreund sent mass emails to the club members notifying them of the Gardens’ closure and requesting volunteers.

“There has been a lot of student support, which I think is the biggest thing that we’ve seen,” Gutfreund said. “A lot of people really do care about the gardens.”

Huegel said the wreck caused by Milton was unlike any other hurricane. 

Related: USF Botanical Gardens reflects on Hurricane Ian losses, recovery 

Lake Benkhe, a man-made body of water serving as a drainage system for USF, rose four feet above its maximum depth of eight feet, flooding the Gardens.

Every wooden frame surrounding the medicinal garden floated up out of the ground and was laying in feet of water, Huegel said.

“We had to clear [mulch] out this morning, and we probably took 50 carts of mulch and leafy debris,” Huegel said.

The three cats residing at the Botanical Gardens, Max, Bat and Magic, rode out the storm in the gardens. 

Related: USF students donate cat food to the Botanical Gardens’ feral residents 

Bat climbed on the roof from the tree, said Victoria Haughton, the Gardens’ social media coordinator.

“He found high ground,” Haughton said, laughing. 

Despite the damage, Huegel said he remained optimistic as volunteers helped him clean and restore the garden.

As lead curator, Huegel usually takes care of the plants the Botanical Gardens grows and sells. Now, one of his biggest priorities will be replacing damaged plants.

He said it will take seven or eight months to collect the seeds back.

“We lost some things in there, and we’ll have to replant them,” Huegel said. “It’s not the end of the world.”