The entrance porch was gone. So was the outside furnishings. And so was the roof.
It was now twisted like an enormous metallic pretzel and resting on the driveway.
Newhall mentioned it was solely a matter of time earlier than the native drug addicts carry it off and promote it for no matter they will get.
“It is all scrap metallic,” he mentioned, chuckling a bit. “The junkies are going to have a subject day.”
Surveying the wreckage, Newhall tried to placed on a courageous face.
“I don’t take all of this too significantly,” he mentioned.
Close by, 67-year-old Nancy Mattes was attempting to assist out her neighbors. Her trailer wasn’t broken so she was pitching in and serving to clear particles from the pathways between the rows of wrecked properties.
As Mattes labored, a 70-year-old girl who recognized herself solely as Mona studied the aspect of her trailer. It had been pried open by Ian and he or she might see a few of what she owns inside.
“Now it is time for cleanup,” she mentioned.
In the meantime, residents over on the Lazy J Cell House & RV Park had been counting their blessings.
“We lucked out, truly,” mentioned 18-year-old Malik Castillo as he inspected his trailer. “I believed it will be a lot worse, to be trustworthy. We had been blessed.”
Apart from a couple of knocked-over vegetation, Castillo mentioned they suffered no different injury.
“I believed there was going to be flooding on the porch as a result of when it rains exhausting it normally floods in there,” he mentioned. “It’s unlucky for different folks, too, as a result of they misplaced their properties.”
Don Hill, 67, mentioned he, too, was stunned to search out his trailer nonetheless in a single piece. He mentioned they’re not constructed to outlive the sort of punishment that Hurricane Ian dished out on the opposite aspect of Ortiz Avenue.
“I really feel sorry for everybody and hope they get better. You simply should have hope, hold praying and hope for the most effective,” he mentioned.
What else to find out about Hurricane Ian
One block over, in an space the place cellular properties sit cheek by jowl with modest bungalows, 28-year-old Martin Herrera was marveling that his trailer had survived unscathed.
“I really feel completely happy and lucky that our home remains to be standing,” Herrera mentioned.
However as he appeared round, Herrera mentioned his pleasure was tempered by the large destruction throughout his neighborhood.
“We’re not completely happy as a result of on the finish of the day, yeah, our house remains to be right here,” he mentioned. “However different folks misplaced the whole lot.”
Deon J. Hampton reported from Fort Myers and Corky Siemaszko from New York Metropolis.
