Chicago man begins to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Ian ripped through his Florida home
CHICAGO (CBS) – Families are still working to pick up the pieces of what's left of their homes in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Florida.
CBS 2's Marissa Perlman has been following one Chicago man as he made his way back to check on his Florida home.
After what he called a nine-hour beating on Charlotte County, Florida, Brendan Burke drove from Chicago through town towards his home in Punta Gorda.
"You start to see a lot of trees down along the side of the highway. and you start to see a lot of service trucks," he said.
After the hurricane, in Punta Gorda, massive trees were pulled out from their roots. Roofs were torn off homes which are covered with tarps. Rowboats were blown into neighbors' backyards from the nearby canal.
"I think it's safe to say it had the highest winds," Burke said. "It's really where the storm made landfall."
Drone video of Burke's home shows panels blown off from that wind. He said he's shocked his home is still standing.
Just a mile away, his neighbor's home has no roof and its walls are barely standing.
Burke said he and his family are lucky and are struggling with survivor's guilt.
"It's s a lot emotionally," he said. "Emotionally, it's a lot for everyone.
"You can measure my damage I tens of thousands of dollars, not hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Burke drove generators and construction supplies in from Chicago. He's been lending his pickup trucks to his neighbors, a majority of which he said are older and retired.
"Those people, it's going to hurt," Burke said. "It's really going to hurt.
"There's a lot of people down here who live outside the community a little bit who are fisherman and construction workers and landscapers. Those people really can't afford this."
Charlotte County has not reported any storm-related deaths, but Ian left its mark there.
Burke said people are trying to help each other any way they can.
"I feel like we don't even know where to start," he said.
"I feel very lucky," he added. "Very lucky."
