OZELLO, Fla. — A few out-of-state volunteers are lending a helping hand to Citrus County homeowners who are still picking up the pieces after Hurricane Idalia brushed the Nature Coast last August.
It’s some much needed help that otherwise no one could do alone.
In the marshes of Ozello, you’ll hear the occasional sound of power tools drilling away inside Linda Florea’s home.
“This is work after the hurricane,” she said.
Idalia rocked Florea’s home last August — and months later, reminders of the storm are still visible from her possessions sitting outside to the water marks left on walls.
“From what I understand, this was higher than Hermine,” Florea recalled. “In the early ‘90s, they had the no-name storm which was higher. But this last hurricane was higher than Hermine.”
Repairing her property alone seemed impossible until one day she received a phone call.
“This kind of wears on you when you have this much damage and you know it’s going to take a year or two to fix it and they have sped that up so much for me. It was just fantastic that they would do this for me. It’s good neighbors across the country,” she said.
Those ‘good neighbors’ are volunteers with St. Andrew’s Mission Society. They traveled more than a thousand miles from North and South Dakota. All on a mission to help homeowners like Florea.
“You just can’t even believe their stories and how appreciative they are,” volunteer Kim Rieger said. “I mean, none of us are trained in construction. None of us. We’re all just novices and we’re making mistakes and not doing things right, but Linda is so happy to have us here, and that makes you feel good.”
The group has seven projects they’re working on in the Tampa Bay area. But Florea’s home has required a little extra attention.
“All of my appliances I’ve had to replace,” said Florea. “They’re out right now but, hopefully, it will come back better. We’ve moved all of the outlets up a little bit, so that next time I won’t have to replace those.”
Having her home back will mean more than just having a roof over her head — she’ll have her life back, too.
“Not being hanging on the edge of this around the house is not working, or this has to be fixed,” she said. “The walls aren’t in. I can’t do this or can’t do that because I can’t. Normal never looked so good, so it’ll be nice.”
A sense of normal that has been months in the making.
Calvin Lewis
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