Sisters fly to Matlacha to help father rebuild after Hurricane Helene’s destruction

Hurricane Helene has affected people, not just in southwest Florida, but across the country.

WINK News reporter Amy Galo caught up with two young women who flew down from Philadelphia to help their father while he does the same for others.

Gianna and Becky Murgia flew down with their boyfriend and fiance, and the four of them immediately got to work cleaning out their dad’s Matlacha home.

They formed a huge pile of furniture and belongings, stacked high and filled with memories.

The scene is reminiscent of Hurricane Ian.

“Most of the beds, most of the couches, all the like kitchen vanities,” said Gianna. “Everyone’s finally kind of got back up on their feet from all that devastation. And then now, obviously, we’re kind of starting from ground zero again.”

If you take a drive around Matlacha, you’ll see dozens of piles like the Murgia’s.

While Becky and Gianna work to clear their dad, Charlie Murgia’s home, he’s up in Boca helping others pick up the pieces.

“He manages probably, like 60 to 70 houses up there. So he’s, like, their first response for the hurricane,” Becky explained.

His daughters are here doing the same for Charlie.

“Just kind of getting the house where it needs to be, get all the furniture out so it’s not just sitting and growing mold,” Gianna said.

They ripped out cabinets, doors and drywall after the house took in around two feet of water during Helene.

Becky explained, “My dad called me. He’s like, there’s water coming in from everywhere. He actually didn’t put up the hurricane shutters because it wasn’t supposed to be bad, but the water was like, coming in through those back windows, like waves crashing into the windows.”

And it showed no mercy to the two years of work that was put into this home after Ian.

Gianna said, “We honestly had just finally recovered, probably, like at the beginning of this summer.”

While the Murgia family is back to square one, they said the love and support of this community have made it easy.

Everyone’s pitching in, helping each other out wherever they can.