NAPLES, Fla. --- Homeowners in Collier County who decided to ride out Hurricane Irma were watching the storm surge as the eyewall passed over Naples. We spoke with one man who saw the water rise above his dock.
In his neighborhood off Manatee Road, just outside of Marco Island, residents were picking up large amounts of debris Monday.
“There’s carports and lanais all over the place, up in the trees, and up in other people’s property. But I got lucky and so did some other people. Some of these houses it doesn’t look like there’s any damage.”
Homeowners who live close to the water were preparing for a storm surge. We spoke to Hank who has a creek in his backyard with a boat dock. “So when the storm first went through, the water in the creek was going out towards the ocean big time, quick. But then once the eye went through all of a sudden, the trees started bending the other way and the water started coming back in the creek, and I’ve never seen my boat dock underwater.”
Thankfully, Hank is ok. “So I consider myself to be real lucky, but other people weren’t so fortunate.”
We asked him if any of his neighbors that evacuated had a chance to come back and look at the damage. “I think I was the only one that stayed here. I did have a neighbor across the street that stayed ok, but I think it was just me and him and his wife. We rode it out.”
