Appliances and furniture now line the streets in Bokeelia after Hurricane Helene brought 3-5 feet of storm surge.
“I’ve lived through Dana, from Dana on, and I have never seen anything like this,” said Robert Ballard, a lifelong resident of Pine Island.
After 54 years, Ballard’s house that’s been passed down by generations still stands, but inside Ballard is back to square one. After not having any flooding from Ian and only having water intrude through the damaged roof from Charley, he said he stayed behind this storm not imagining to have to start all over again.
Watch Bella’s full report below.
‘I have never seen anything like this;’ Bokeelia rebuilds after Helene brought water into homes
“All the hurricanes we’ve had, it’s never flooded, and this hurricane’s 150 miles offshore, and we get flooded. No rhyme or reason too,” said Ballard. “When it got out of control, I just started moving things up, and was able to save a lot of stuff.”
Robert showed me these pictures from when the storm surge from Helene started flooding his home late at night: