Households in Florida are choosing up the items after Hurricane Ian ravaged the state this week, with one household saying they misplaced “every thing” after their residence’s foundations crumbled within the staggering storm surge.
Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon as a Class 4 storm over the west coast of Florida, leaving in its wake greater than a dozen individuals lifeless, destroyed houses, flooded streets and hundreds of thousands with out energy.
The Gutierrez household of Fort Myers Seaside, Florida, took video footage of the storm’s harm of their residence exhibiting their belongings, tables and furnishings strewn about in excessive, muddy flood waters.
Maribel Gutierrez, the mom of the household, instructed MSNBC she and her husband and her 4 youngsters held fingers in a series as they escaped their residence within the midst of the ferocious hurricane in the hunt for increased floor.
She stated they needed to depart after they felt the inspiration of their residence transfer and the partitions begin to come down.
“We have been calm in our home till 1 p.m. and at 2:30 p.m., roughly, we got here out,” she stated.
When the household opened their door, 3 to 4 toes of water got here in they usually have been met with howling winds, she recalled.
“We ran out — my youngsters and I holding fingers — and we got here to a home that has a second flooring and a laundry [area],” she stated.
“The water, we have been being moved left and proper, and we typically misplaced our grip however we have been in a position to seize onto one another as soon as once more,” Maribel stated. “And we obtained to that, thank God, two-story construction and we went to a laundry and we have been there for 5 hours with panic as a result of the water saved arising and saved arising.”
She stated she and her members of the family have been crying as they waited the storm out.
“It was actually actually ugly, so horrible. The home nearly fell. It opened up, the inspiration nearly got here up, all of it obtained destroyed and minimize,” Maribel stated. “We misplaced every thing. We’re left with not one single factor.”
Her daughter Liliana Gutierrez stated that when the household walked out into the hurricane, she needed to simply “deal with the place we needed to go” and “not take into consideration what was round.”
Liliana stated at one level she feared for the more severe, however “I needed to pull myself collectively and get via it.”
Maribel recalled via tears how her son was crying within the hurricane and instructed her, “Mommy, don’t let me die.”
Regardless of the immense loss, Maribel stated, “God protected us.”
The household is staying at a buddy’s home, which additionally suffered harm within the storm, stays with out energy and had the home windows blown out.
Ian’s path of destruction shouldn’t be but over because the hurricane is anticipated to make landfall in South Carolina on Friday.
