Historic District in Punta Gorda recovering after Helene

So much of Southwest Florida continues to recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, especially along the coast.

One such spot is downtown Punta Gorda.

Helene hit them with the highest documented flooding in Charlotte County on record.

In the Historic District, some homeowners lost everything as water from the Peace River rushed in, but they are trying to stay positive. They’re just thankful they are safe after this hurricane.

Everything they need to get rid of or fix, they will, but that’s all replaceable, and just walking down any street in the Historic District, that’s what you see: destroyed furniture, clothing, cars that won’t start and people hard at work to save their homes from any mold after flooding.

Once valuables, now trash and knocked-out walls.

Many have lived here for decades and through several hurricanes in the last two years, they said Helene has been the worst.

Lisa Jackson rode out the storm. She told us her house didn’t get any water from Ian, Idalia or any other storm, so she didn’t think there’d be a problem.

“My son called, said, ‘Mom, you better hit the power switch because you could electrocute yourself,’ so I had to crawl out this window because I couldn’t get the kitchen door open because this was full of water,” she said.

She found a way to get into her laundry room, where the power switch was. Once she did that, she said her work for the night was done.

“I always know somebody has it worse than I do. The good Lord watches out, so I got to give it all to him,” Jackson said.

And the determination Jackson has to bounce back is such a common theme in a neighborhood hit so hard.

People here just lost everything, but they are doing nothing but what they need to do: clean up and look ahead.