EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. -- Southern Collier County was hard-hit by the rains Tuesday, and roads are flooded in Everglades City and Marco Island. One woman says it's so bad she needs to sleep somewhere else.
"It was all underwater, it was this deep in water down here." Ramona Lyon was just weeks away from opening a bed and breakfast in the old Bank of the Everglades building. But months of work fixing up the historic building was washed away in three days of rain.
"I was out here picking things up out of the water. All of this was underwater, knee deep."
Ramona was also picking things up inside the building, which dates back to the 1920's. Some of the original furniture is still inside, but the rain is now causing the roof to rot through.
"This room is so beautiful here, or it was."
As if the rain damage isn't bad enough, the mosquitoes are worse. Ramona says you can't walk outside unless you have something on your face. "This is how everyone walked around today, no one knew who anyone was…you could almost rob someone."
Even as her town has been inundated by the flooding, Ramona is not going to let it dampen her determination to rebuild. "I'm gonna fix the roof…I'm gonna try, try try."
Remember, up until Sunday, this area had very little rain for months. Now the water is a foot in some places.
Some say this is the worst flooding they've seen since Hurricane Donna in the early 1960's.
