Hurricane Ian left a devastating trail across Florida that will take months if not years for many to recover from.
The stories of loss are heartbreaking, and the images are ones we won’t forget for a long time, if ever.
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But there are glimmers of hope that we can take from this past week and stories of kindness that we can focus on as we band together to help our state rebuild.
We want to hear your story of kindness. It can be anything that someone did for you that helped get you through this hard time.
From the offer of charging your phone or bringing you a hot meal to carrying you through floodwaters to higher ground.
Corrine V. of Orange county shared, “My son read a Facebook post from a friend urgently seeking help from anyone. The post stated that his 72 year old grandmother, alone in her apartment, had the roof blow off and fall on her as she sat in her recliner. My son replied that he would go get her and bring her here to our home in Orlando. He, foolishly perhaps, drove down I-4 and 75 to Port Charlotte in the middle of Ian and brought her and her injured 14 year old Chihuahua to the house here. Her apartment was destroyed. Sadly her Chihuahua’s injuries were so severe that she had to be put down. It’s been a week now. Laurel has gone back to her apartment twice to get what she could salvage. It has been condemned and all residents were told to be out by today, Friday. My heart hurts for her and for the other elderly residents who had no one to help them and will lose everything and have no place other than the shelter to go to. Laurel’s family has organized to get her demolished car and will be making a home for her with her daughter in Texas.”
Anna G. of Brevard County shared, “I want to thank the men that helped my husband take the water out of his sailboat and pull it off the rocks in Cocoa Village. It took two days and because of these men, we were not charged $4,000 to remove the boat which is what our registered boat would have been fined. It had three anchors and took on water and was blown into the rocks during the hurricane. The people that helped us did it out of the goodness of their hearts. It took up their valuable time and we couldn’t have freed the boat without them. The boat was not a derelict boat as the reporter claimed on live TV. It was not a 24′ boat with a 50′ mast and it was anchored with 3 oversized anchors before the storm hit. We were able to save our boat from being destroyed because of the heroes that helped.”
Teresa F. of Seminole County shared, “Latter-day Saints of Oviedo came and cut a whole bunch of the trees that came down and put it out to be picked up on Sunday. Thank you for all the help.”
Bob M. of Marion County shared, “Horse people are like family, some are show people, some carriage people, trail riders and on and on. But when one of us has an issue we band together. There is a group here in Ocala that has been working tirelessly since Ian came to visit. With the generosity of the citizens of Marion County and many of the equine supply vendors, there have been many tractor-trailer loads of feed, bedding, every possible type of supply item, and fencing. The team that is coordinating it is also delivering it south and then staying there fixing and installing fences, assisting in any way possible, and working on barns. I believe there have been trips every day and they still continue, and they now expanding to the Daytona area. While there are many involved the spokesperson for the group is Louisa Barton of Horse Talk Radio. Friends and neighbors helping friends and distant neighbors.”