Southwest Florida residents work to clean up after tornado

Rob Oudkerk is a pretty tough guy.

He got through Hurricane Irma in 2017.

But when he saw what the EF1 tornado did to his backyard when it touched down in the Eagle Ridge Community on Tuesday, he let out a curse word.

He looked at his crumpled lanai.

“Dollar signs,” he said. “Exactly, dollar signs.”

It’s not a cheap repair or an easy one so he got to work early on Wednesday.

He sawed down trees and hauled away branches. He kept going even though he had blood on his calves and band-aids on his ankles.

Oudkerk, who is Dutch, was determined not to let the trees win.

How does he like Florida?

“It’s OK,” he said, except for the storm cleanup.

While the tornado caused hundreds of dollars in damage, people in south Fort Myers are grateful it wasn’t like the tornadoes in Kentucky.

On Twin Eagle Lane, the brunt of the damage has been caused by the trees and many homes have tarps on their roofs.

The Marco Patriots, a relief group that just returned from helping in Kentucky, were touched so many people were thinking of Kentucky instead of their own damage.