Seven months after Hurricane Ian, residents and city officials of Arcadia and neighboring city Wauchula are working toward getting back to normal. Although the physical damage of the storm is not present, residents know what still needs to be done.
While debris from the hurricane is now gone off the streets in both Arcadia and Wauchula, some roofs still have blue tarps and are in of need repairs. Residents are worried about the possibility of mold in their homes.
Diane Smith, who lives near Wauchula, said she had to go by boat to save her daughters from chest-high water. Her daughters lived across the Peace River, which overflowed after Ian.
“I was trying to find someone with a boat to take me to my daughters. They are two families and live right across from each other,” Smith said.
Smith said that luckily some people were going out in boats, and she could secure one, but the boats could only go so far. So, Smith walked the rest of the way to her daughter’s homes in chest-high waters.
“I don't know who was happier to see each other, me or them,” Smith said.
Her daughters lost everything. They have been in contact with insurance, FEMA, and the county. The daughters are repairing one home.
“One of my daughters is still living with me, so they are still recovering,” Smith said. “They had lost everything. So, there is the sentimental value that was lost.”
Jessica Ussery, a resident of Hardee County, said her family was isolated after the storm. No one could leave. Roads were flooded with water six feet deep, she said.
“The biggest challenge, you know, the water, we couldn't leave Hardee County because it had washed out the bridges and the roads,” Ussery said.
“I'm hoping I don't have any mold issues in my home,” Ussery said. “But I don't know for sure because they weren't able, you know, to look at anything until I get the roof taken care of.”
While her home did not get any significant flooding, her roof took most of the damage. Now seven months later, Ussery was finally able to get it installed. She tried contacting local roofing companies, but they either did not call back or were working on other houses outside Hardee County. Only out-of-state companies called back.
Those out-of-state companies were price-gouging, according to Ussery. They told her a replacement roof would cost about $40,000.
“Once all of my insurance had come out, they looked at my house and sent a check to me,” she said. “I just had that check sitting in an account waiting because all the roofers who had come out wanted to price gouge about $10,000 to $15,000 over what they normally would charge. And the local places that I wanted to use were so backed up. I ended up getting on the list.”
According to Florida Disasters, insurers have reported $10 billion in estimated insured losses and 6,000 claims. This aggregate information is compiled from claims data filed by insurers. However, it has yet to be audited or independently verified.
While resident’s roofs need to be repaired, businesses in the Historic Downtown of Arcadia have closed or have been resorted into something else, leaving behind the connections residents once had to the businesses.
Haley Jackaki, a Naples resident, grew up in Arcadia, about 45 miles northeast of Fort Myers, and her family still lives there. They were separated for two weeks after Ian. Jackaki said she tried to convince her parents to stay with her in Naples.
The hardest part was seeing her hometown change. She often went to downtown Arcadia to the antique shop that was once an opera house. The tornadoes that spun out because of the hurricane's high winds knocked down one wall of the old opera house.
“It was just like there was no wall there anymore,” Jackaki said. “I think they've converted it back into a community theater space. It's not an antique shop anymore, but I'm happy they could convert it into something else. I knew that place meant a lot to my people in the town, and it holds a lot of sentimental value to my friends and me.”
What worried Jackaki the most during the storm was the safety of her family. Her parents decided to stay home in Arcadia during the storm, and they lost communication for three day.
“You know, my parents are older. They're in their 60s. And I was like, why don't you come stay with us,” Jackaki said. “It was scary to be separated from all of them. I wish we could have been together. I was just grateful that they all ended up being OK, and my sister didn't have any severe damage to her house, but my mom and dad's house flooded. With like four or five feet of water.”
Arcadia City Administrator Terry Stewart has been in government in Florida for almost 54 years. The time that Hurricane Ian stayed over the community was the longest Stewart had experienced.
“For example, from when tropical force winds started until they stopped, it was almost 13 hours,” Stewart said. “The eye wall was over the city for eight hours in our area. That's a slow-moving storm at a strong intensity, so that created many issues we probably wouldn't have seen as much if it had been moving, as most storms move. So that was the surprise piece.”
“All of the funding that might be available to help a community, it's a lot more complex and complicated than it used to be,” Stewart said. “It's just having the knowledge, the skills, and the abilities to ensure appropriate access to those assistance packages.”
According to Stewart, the city has cooperated with federal and state organizations.
“As you might imagine, there's not much with a small rural community such as ours, where our resources are limited,” Stewart said. “But we've cooperated with organizations. We had an event here where we provided a location belonging to the city so that they could come in and provide what wound up being food stamps to those that were affected by the storm. We enabled that.”
The city also worked with organizations to provide recovery centers.
“We're working hard to access every dollar available to help in recovery,” Stewart said. “If we get those dollars, then there's much less funding that our citizens must come up with to accomplish the same thing. So, our role and our goal are to do an outstanding job on that so that we get all the resources and benefits that will help our community recover.”
Stewart was not working in Arcadia when Hurricane Charley caused extensive damage in 2004. But he said the city administration is trying to use lessons learned then, to get all available help now.
“The damage from then was much more extensive than from Ian,” Stewart said. “A lot of homes were destroyed, and a lot of public facilities were damaged. And the community probably did not access the available resources as well as it could have or should have. We're working hard to ensure that does not happen again.”
The area from the city of Arcadia to DeSoto County was also flooded by the overflow of Peace River. As of today, Committees have been formed to aid those who still need help.
Mandy Hines, DeSoto County administrator, said that for eight days there was only one way in and out of the county. Rising water was their biggest issue, but the county has been able to provide help to residents.
According to Hines, the hardest part is there's not always a resource for every challenge that somebody's having.
“When people still need assistance, we have a number of communication boards around the community and in all of our departments on our website and through our EOC and with our nonprofit agencies to make sure that people are aware of the different housing assistance programs that are offered through the county and also through some of our nonprofit Partners.”
Amanda Morris, 53, is a DeSoto County resident who said she left her home during the storm and couldn’t return due to the flooding. She lost furniture and had to completely renovate her floor.
“I’m just glad everyone is OK. It’s hard mentally yes,” Morris said. “We are there for each other — residents and everyone — were a strong hardworking community and it’s that support that makes it possible for us to move forward and recover.”
This story was produced by Democracy Watch, a news service provided by Florida Gulf Coast University journalism students. The reporter can be reached at vmamador2491@eagle.fgcu.edu.
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