Helene is working its way into South Florida and people are preparing their homes. Collier County has stations where people can fill their own sand bags until supplies run out.
Jon Schroeder lost his business during Hurricane Ian and says that experience is leading him to take Helene seriously.
“I lost my entire retirement,” he said.
He owned the Salty Surf Club hotel on Bonita Beach.
“It decided to eat the hotel and it took all except two condos,” he said.
That same storm that hit Southwest Florida about this time two years ago displaced Kayla and Taylor Ciotta.
“It [their home] was flooded completely, we had to evacuate and we were late to evacuating. We had water up to our waists,” they said.
They say Ian is making them prepare for Helene, just like Schroeder.
“We just don’t want to see our house get destroyed again by the hurricanes and we wish they would just stop, but that’s not mother nature,” Taylor said.