Hurricane Ian hero suffers 14 months of agony to get into new home

One man has an incredible Hurricane Ian survivor story, but it’s what happened after that’s nearly brought him to tears: enduring an almost 14-month journey to get into his new home.

He saved a dozen people during Hurricane Ian’s immense downpour.

“He was floating in a white jacket, holding onto a boat. We were like, ‘Come on, let’s go,'” said Kevin Ott.

All this time later, he needs help. In particular, why it has taken more than a year to get him and his children into their new home.

“When you work your hardest trying to give something to your kids and you get nothing, you get basically slapped in the face,” said Ott.

When that happened, the South Fort Myers dad turned to WINK News anchor Nicole Gabe for help.

The Ott family purchased a mobile home, hoping to move in, but they wound up stuck in limbo. It’s been an ongoing journey for the Ott family.

They bought a mobile home in February of 2023, but if you skip to Monday, they’re one step closer to moving into their new home.

Ott has quite the Hurricane Ian story to tell.

“She was floating in the canoe with the dog, her daughter, her daughter’s boyfriend, the cat. And I was like, we gotta get them,” he said. “My kids jumped out, broke the door open, they kicked the door open and out comes the canoe with all of them on it.”

Using a pontoon boat, he rescued 12 people, a dog and two cats in the middle of Hurricane Ian, a storm reaching Category 5 status.

“We didn’t think… we just kept on going, as fast as we could, picking up people,” said Ott.

Similar to others, Ott lost his South Fort Myers home in the storm. Since then, Ott feels everything’s gone downhill.

“It’s kind of discouraging more than anything. Because here I am with three kids raised. That’s hard, extremely, not have a place to put them in,” said Ott.

After Ian, he applied for loans, got permits and spoke with FEMA. On Nov. 25, 2022, the SBA Loan came through.

The contract shows Ott purchased a mobile home from Black Wolf Holdings LLC. in South Fort Myers in Feburary 2023.

“Five bedrooms, three baths and big kitchen, big living room and plenty room for all the kids. It’s a brand new Clayton home,” said Ott.

But when Ott first contacted WINK News in November 2023, he still hadn’t seen the home.

“I’ve asked for pictures, no pictures. I’ve asked what’s inside – nothing,” said Ott.

All he had was a lot full of dirt.

So WINK News reached out to Steven Game, the manager of Black Wolf.

That set off claims from both sides of miscommunication, incorrect paperwork and blame. It also ignited movement on the project.

Ten months after signing the contract, it looked like progress. The pad was set.

But that’s all that happened for a while. In late December 2023, WINK News went to LaBelle, where Black Wolf Homes stores mobile homes to ask about Ott’s home.

That’s where WINK News met Steven Game. He invited us onto the property and showed us Ott’s home. Steven Game got the installer TEK-9 on the phone and worked out a delivery date.

Jan. 2, 2024, a whopping 11 months after Ott purchased the trailer, it was delivered.

“Going right positive direction, I guess you could say we’ve had a rough year, but starting now, first two days, three days into the new year, it’s gonna be nice,” said Ott.

It started looking good for Ott until days turned into weeks. It would be nearly two months before the home was installed and hooked up.

The final part of the installation process happened on April 1. The skirting was installed around the home.

After nearly 14 months of back and forth, Ott is getting closer to the finish line.

One of the last steps for Ott to officially move in was getting his certificate of occupancy. On Monday, Ott said the county approved him.

That means he has the green light.

Ott told WINK News his daughters have birthdays at the end of April, and he hopes to move in and settled by then to celebrate.

Black Wolf and the installer have both talked with WINK News throughout the process but did not want to be interviewed for the story.