‘There’s hundreds’: Cape Coral neighborhood concerned about rats at hurricane-damaged home

A home in Cape Coral destroyed in the hurricane has been taken over by rats, and neighbors say they have had enough.

Neighbors are disgusted and worried about the rat’s impact on their health and homes.

Scurrying out of the trees, covering every branch and in every crevice, rats are the problem for people on Malibu Court in Cape Coral.

“I think there’s hundreds over there,” said Gary Anderson. “I lost count after 50. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

When Anderson realized what he was seeing, he froze in his tracks. “It just wasn’t a few rats. It’s an infestation.”

Anderson says it’s obvious his neighbor’s got a rat problem, so he and his neighbors do too.

“I would never have thought I would see something that bad in my lifetime,” Anderson said.

He said the rats began building their kingdom after Hurricane Ian hit the home hard.

“This is on a canal and, but the property is not kept up, the grass is not trimmed, the bushes aren’t trimmed, the house is falling down. There’s big holes in the roof because of the hurricane,” said Anderson.

Since then, it’s been rat after rat after rat. Anderson said he and his neighbors had called the city of Cape Coral, code enforcement, and the police, but to no avail.

They called WINK News because they didn’t know what else to do.

“Why isn’t something being done? You know?” said Anderson.

All they want is for the rodents to be gone.

“If this doesn’t get solved, and in my mind, solved very soon, some action needs to be taken. These rats will find their way into other homes and in the yards, and now you have disease that that’s growing in it’s a real health concern that you have to be aware of.”

While the residents in the neighborhood are concerned about the rats, they are also worried about the woman who lives in the home.

“It’s heartbreaking, heartbreaking. It is very heartbreaking,” said Anderson. “There’s no running water. There’s no gas or electric in the home. The utilities have all been shut off. And she is living there outside on the ground. She goes down to the canal, drinks water out of the canal. She actually feeds the rats. The neighbors tell me that she believes that they are her pets.”

Anderson and many others said they tried to help.  “We’ve given her blankets, clothes, sweat pants, food. We’ve been dealing with this every day, water, everything that we know to do to try to help her. And some days, she’s very appreciative. And then other days, she is very upset that we’re even there”

Anderson said the problems started after the hurricane, which heavily damaged the house. Ever since, he and his neighbors say they’ve called everyone they could think of to try and get help.

“To bring light on the situation for the lady so we can get the best help for the lady that she deserves. If this was would be your mother, or your grandmother or your aunt that was going through something like this. She has no family, from what we understand,” said Anderson.

WINK News watched as Cape Coral police conducted a welfare check on Tuesday. They said there was nothing severe enough to step in right away. They say they are reaching out to a victim’s advocate to see if they can get the woman some help.

WINK News contacted the city about the rats. The city said, “A notice of violation was issued, and a re-inspection has been scheduled. This code case is open and active.”