APALACHICOLA, Fla. — Calamity is familiar to Florida’s dwindling colony of oystermen, a rugged crew that has defiantly remained on Apalachicola Bay as its estuary has suffered the decimating effects of overharvesting, an oil spill, the loss of fresh water and, at times, stubborn drought.

But the new ruin brought by Hurricane Michael felt like one misfortune too many in this postcard-perfect town where locals have only just begun to grapple with the extent of the storm’s damage to the industry that once drove the local economy, which had already been struggling to survive.

“First you couldn’t get oysters,” said Kevin Ward, 40, whose family’s wholesale seafood facility 13 miles out of town was partly destroyed by the storm. “Now we get hit by this.”

Before the hurricane was over on Wednesday, Mr. Ward and his brother, T.J. Ward, waded into another one of their properties by a dock on the Apalachicola River. They found nearly chest-level water, higher than ever before, in the space where they clean seafood, and also in the downtown market where they sell it.