MYAKKA CITY, Fla. — People are left picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ian. For one farm in Myakka City, it’s been a challenge.
The couple who owns and operates Myakka Trail Rides farm lost some animals in the flood waters and a lot of their farm was damaged.
Darya Cole and her husband went on vacation to visit family in Hungary the week before Hurricane Ian hit. Before they left they said there was no mention of a hurricane threat to their farm. While they were away they started to see the storm was projected for the Tampa Bay area, but didn't see they would be impacted.
When Wednesday rolled around, that all changed.
"I didn’t know if I was going to lose my dad, if I was going to lose my house, if I was going to lose all my animals," Darya Cole said. "It was devastating."
Her 75-year-old dad was watching over 57 pigs, 18 horses and even more cows and chickens.
Being in Hungary, they weren't able to get back immediately.
The day after the storm, one of her horse guides checked on the farm.
"She called me and started crying," Darya recalled. "She said Darya, it’s really bad. Like really, really bad."
Over the phone, Darya and her husband guided their horse guide to rescue the horses.
"They had to go from very high up in the water," Darya explained. "Almost swim in some areas."
All 18 horses survived, but nearly 30 pigs died. Some of the pigs had been born days before and were just babies.
"At this point I just started breaking down because this is all we have," Darya said. "I don’t have kids with my husband. We have pigs, horses, dogs."
They were able to rescue a majority of the pigs.
"My dad called me and said the pigs are sitting on the fence like monkeys with water behind them," Darya said.
Now they’re dealing with damage.
The barn where all the horses stayed no longer has parts of the roof or walls. It's caving in which leads Darya to believe it could collapse. It was an old barn so the couple believes it needs to be replaced. To build a new barn, it would cost around $30,000 for a very basic barn.
They're hoping people in the community can help because it's just the two of them on the farm.
"We do need help cleaning debris and trees," Darya said. Tree servicers came in and told them it would cost around $2,500 to remove some of the trees. There are many down on their property.
They are also in need of supplies from fencing, poles, gates, locks, horse supplies of any kind. So much was taken or destroyed in the hurricane. Any farm products would be a great help.
Their farm is operated by just the two of them. They make their money by bringing the horses on trail rides and ATV rides. With so much damage that is a challenge.
They are able to do ATV tours now. As for horse rides, they want to make sure their horses have time to recover from the storm. They are hoping to continue trail rides in about a week.
With trail and ATV rides, those funds are what help them feed their animals.
If you are able to help in anyway, you can contact Darya at Dashacole@gmail.com or by phone 941-219-9399.
They also have a company website you can access here.