Lee County man reflects on rescue after Milton

We’re hearing more rescue stories as people venture back to the flooded homes they escaped after Hurricane Milton.

One of those is William Rodgers, who lives in Island Park in Lee County.

Rodgers has cleaned out the damage to his Island Park home many times. He did it after Ian, then again for Helene and now after Milton.

“I’ve always lived in a house that’s clean and neat and put together, and nothing ever happens like what’s happening here in this house, so I’ve been living like a homeless person for two years,” Rodgers said.

As Milton sent water rushing into his home, Rodgers hoped to save it, even standing on crates.

Rodgers called into our continuous coverage Wednesday night.

As the call went on, it became clear that Rodgers needed to get him, his wife and his dog out of the house.

We let him go so he could get on the phone and call for help, but there was no need to.

“The USAR team was watching WINK News, and they were informed via your broadcast that the subject needed assistance,” said John Milcetich, San Carlos Park Firefighter.

Shortly after that phone call ended, San Carlos Park firefighters and USAR made their way to Rodgers’ home using their high-water vehicle.

Milcetich was one of those who responded to that call.

“The road was completely underwater, so we basically used the mailboxes and the power poles as our guidelines to make it to the street we needed to go to. From there, we backed up to the residence front window where the subject was signaling us with a flashlight,” Milcetich said.

Then they got Rodgers, his wife and his dog Jules out through the window.

“I’m glad that WINK News called up and made me get out of the house, ’cause I probably wouldn’t have called once we got offline,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers is safe, but his house needs to be fixed once again.