Complex sentence: They considered themselves lucky to have escaped, but after the storm blew itself out the next day, Matsuyama and his friends realized it had uprooted palm trees and except for a few coconuts there was nothing to eat.
Split into simpler sentences: They considered themselves lucky to have escaped, but after the storm blew itself out the next day, Matsuyama and his friends realized it had uprooted palm trees. Except for a few coconuts there was nothing to eat.