SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — There are passionate pleas for help from overwhelmed neighbors devastated by flooding due to Hurricane Debby.
Leaders of some disaster relief agencies are joining in that plea after a drop in the number of volunteers signing up to assist the neighbors. Recently, only four people showed up to one of Rotary International's disaster relief posts to volunteer.
The organization said neighbors need volunteers to help with basic relief like providing food and cleaning up as well as assistance to speed up the recovery and reconstruction process.
"The shock has just worn off and now we are just now realizing we are just a couple of old homeless people. I can't believe this is happening to everybody," Laura Wallace, a Laurel Meadows neighbor, said.
Wallace was among the first to buy a home in Laurel Meadows in 2001 and like all her neighbors, her entire life was sunken by Debby's flood waters. More than a week later, as work crews begin to tear apart her home, getting back to normal has started taking a toll on her.
"I am looking at my neighbors and I feel so bad for them because some of them don't have the resources or the money," Wallace said through tears.
"I've never felt so lost in my life. Everything my husband and I worked for is gone and we are trying to have hope and it is hard so I am begging people to please stand up and help us," she said.
Of the 85 homes at Laurel Meadows, only around a handful had flood insurance.
According to the disaster relief coordinators with Rotary International, the average cost for a "muck and gut" process for a flooded home is between $15,000 to $50,000 depending on the extent of the damage.
That's why the neighbors making a desperate appeal for volunteer services from the community.
"Please come," neighbor Michael Vance said. "We have a lot of older people in this neighborhood and half of them don't know what to do first."
"We have so many houses that need drywall ripped out. My friend next door, he ended up going to hire a company because he was hoping that they could get the volunteers from like the Rotary and places like that, but their volunteers have dropped off," Vance explained.
According to Rotary International, the storm brought a unique set of challenges to their operation.
"It's not large enough like we had with Hurricane Ian where you had your larger hurricane relief deploy their equipment because they're built for thousands of people. We're probably dealing with hundreds of homes that are affected," Andy Lyman from the Rotary International District 6960 of Southwest Florida said.
"People please if you can lend a hand, anything, please do. Food, clothing, shelter, and vehicles you don't need for people to borrow. It will be gratefully appreciated and even to just help clean the yards. We're so overwhelmed, we're so overwhelmed," Wallace said.
Rotary International's disaster relief posts are at Der Dutchman Restaurant on Bahia Vista Street and at Bayside Community Church on Bee Ridge Road where you can sign up to volunteer at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Sarasota County also has a multi-agency response center at Sarasota Christian Church on Ashton Road that opens from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Officials are asking volunteers to keep safety in mind by wearing gloves and masks and drinking plenty of water.