WALL: I ended up having to get rid of all my food, my freezer, my coolers. RYAN WALL: It's pretty much a total loss right now.ĮLLIOTT: Wall owns Ricaltini's restaurant and bar in Inglewood. And business owners like Ryan Wall are taking stock of what they've got left. Huge boat storage warehouses are crunched. JOHN DAY: It's been mentally tough, actually, which is - I've never been challenged like this.ĮLLIOTT: Recovering from Hurricane Ian is proving to be a challenge back on the mainland as well. He says he wasn't prepared for Ian's destruction. And it's covering the entire bathroom ceiling.ĮLLIOTT: Day, an IT consultant and father to three teenage boys, built his house on little Gasparilla Island in 2004, and it survived Hurricane Charley. I don't know what kind of mold it is, but it looks like black mold. Black rings are forming around the light fixtures, and the drywall is soaked in one corner where the roof may have lifted. JOHN DAY: There's a piece of my house over there in that neighbor's yard.ĮLLIOTT: Inside, there's water damage. The siding has been ripped off one side, and the wall has completely detached. JOHN DAY: Right now it's just pure survival mode - bring groceries, bring gasoline and then have - if you're lucky enough to have a generator.ĮLLIOTT: Onshore, Day finds a major mess at his house. Some structures were completely knocked off their pilings. And every one of the 500 or so houses on the island suffered serious damage. I think it's going to be years of recovery.ĮLLIOTT: There's no power. JOHN DAY: It's the biggest storm I've ever seen - very sad. It's just north of where Hurricane Ian made landfall and took a big hit. It's just a lot of work.ĮLLIOTT: The 2 1/2-mile barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico has only ever been accessible by boat. We're hoping to clean up and recover our home. JOHN DAY: We're heading to Little Gasparilla Island, where there is a tremendous amount of damage. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.ĭEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: John Day and his 17-year-old son Jake have loaded their Carolina Skiff with a case of water and other supplies at a marina just south of Inglewood, Fla. And for some, rebuilding is just not an option.
Residents are returning to barrier islands and flooded communities to assess the damage.
In hurricane-ravaged southwest Florida, the long road to recovery is coming into focus.
0 kommentar(er)
