Tricia LaPointe, executive director of the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, and her team have been trying to put the center back together after being hit this fall back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“Water is a completely different beast, which we're learning, so powerful, all of our buildings are a loss,” LaPointe said. "I mean, to just get a double whammy like that.”
Peace River Wildlife Center makes progress as they build back after Helene and Milton
The center spent a week after Helene cleaning up vegetation and tending to the on-site animals. LaPointe said it seemed like the water came in slower with Hurricane Helene.
"We were getting back ready to start bringing the animals back that had been evacuated. And then Milton came. So, we did a full evacuation of all the animals. Milton, it just seemed to come hard and fast and did a whole lot more destruction.”
Hurricane Milton knocked buildings off foundations, damaged animal habitats, and swept away perimeter fences. The wildlife center is still digging out over a month later.
“I don’t know what we would have done without the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery team who lined up help quickly," LaPointe said.
Early help came from the Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota. They showed up with heavy equipment to help clear out debris and the destruction left behind by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The Peace River Wildlife Center's mission is to rescue and rehabilitate native Florida wildlife. The goal is to release the animals back to the wild. The hospital has nearly an 80-percent rate of return back to nature — something they work hard to achieve.
“That's our mission,' LaPointe said. "We have great rehabbers, great veterinarians and that's our goal, is to get them back out into the wild.”
The center also educates the public on local wildlife; That’s where the full-time residents come in.
"All of our animals here are non-releasable," she said. "They have wing injuries, possibly foot injuries. Some were imprinted by humans. And our goal here is to educate the public about how to live with wildlife and what not to do with wildlife."
The center is about 14 months away from moving into a new facility in Punta Gorda. Moving from .4 acres to 3.5 acres will allow for more habitats, and to take in more wildlife that — for whatever reason — can’t be sent back out into the wild.
“If an animal comes to us through our hospital or another rehab hospital in Florida and needs placement, we'll have the space for them, and then we'll also have more room for educational programming,” LaPointe said.
LaPointe said the team understands the importance of reopening the education center to help support the hospital financially yet needing to be smart about not putting too much money into the existing center so close to the new center opening.
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The water line can be seen on the sides of the habitats. Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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The buildings were lifted off their foundations by the damaging water from Hurricane Milton. Both buildings were removed and will be replaced with temporary work areas so the center and open back up. Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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The crew works to clean up the habitats. Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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The back fence was washed away. Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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Local wildlife unable to return to nature live at the center. Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
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Tricia LaPointe, CEO/Executive Director of Peace River Wildlife Center, in Punta Gorda Florida. She talked about the damage back to back hurricanes caused at the center and wildlife hospital. A demo crew from Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota showed up with heavy equipment to help us clear out debris as well as members of the Zoo Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery - ZDR3 USA showed up to help. The team is now working on getting the habitats cleaned up so the residents can come back home.
Andrea Melendez/WGCU
There is an additional bonus for the move, as well.
"We know that this is not the place to stay. We know that our hospital is not the place to stay because it's in a flood-prone area. So we're doing all the things we have the plan in place to not stay in those locations, to not have to go through this again."
In the meantime, officials hope to open up the education center soon to help fund the hospital which is still not at full working capacity. When asked about what the past month has been like, LaPointe had this to say.
“That it's a lot, but we'll get through it.”
For ways to offer help to the center, visit the website: https://prwildlife.org/
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