Nicole may cause flooding along the Peace River

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Paul Dolan
Published:

The Peace River in Southwest Florida was flooded for weeks before Ian made landfall, is finally seeing the flood water go down.

But, with Nicole inching closer to Florida, people near the river quickly need to get ready for more rain.

WINK News spoke with Mandie Moore, who lives in River Acres. She and her husband are among the few people still living in the area.

Mandie and her husband couldn’t clean up or leave; all they could do was watch the water rise higher and higher.

“It was just so quick, the water coming up. And it continued to come up for days. I mean, it’s flooding like I’ve never seen before,” Mandie said.

Damaged area near the Peace River in DeSoto County. CREDIT: WINK News

This isn’t Mandie’s first rodeo with a River Acres flood since the area is known to take on water. But, during Hurricane Ian, the odds were always against them.

“The fact that we were already flooded made the hurricane flood so much worse. I mean, we’re 16 feet in the air,” Mandie said. “We were 12 inches from water being on our deck. So it was catastrophic.”

“My husband did a lot of work on that house. I feel safe there,” Mandie said. “I’ve never left. I stayed with Irma. I stayed with Ian, and I’ll stay with Nicole.”

Mandie is aware Nicole won’t be the same kind of storm, but the closeness she needs is what she has from her neighbors.

“Oh my god, we have the best people out here. And we all love each other,” Mandie said. “It’s always what can I do to help? It’s like, well, what can I do to help you? You know, we’re in the same boat here, you know? But yeah, it’s a great community.”

Sadly, after the flooding and then the hurricane, many neighbors had to leave, at least temporarily.

Mandie said she’ll move her horses and her cars, but she plans on being home no matter what.

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