SARASOTA, Fla. — Some communities in Sarasota are seeing more devastation than others in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. For some, the damage is beyond what meets the eye.
One mobile home community of mostly retired seniors is struggling to recover.
"When Milton came into town he cleaned out. He was Helene's brother and he was mad. It couldn't stand the winds. It took the roof, the rubber roof, the siding, lanai, carport all that," said Mike White of Mike White Handy Man Services.
On the request of some homeowners, many of whom are snowbirds, White was making the rounds and checking on homes at Tri-Par Mobile home estates in Sarasota for damage from Hurricane Milton. The one he was looking at had lost the entire roof.
"I'm going try to put something over there just to get him by until he gets here for now because I have so many other customers that are in high demand," said White.
On practically every street corner were piles of debris waiting for pick up. Many of the homeowners 10 Tampa Bay spoke to said that their homes sustained significant damage costing thousands of dollars, but theirs is a total loss for many others.
"It's got to be dragged out and put another one in. We can see it ripped the carport apart and it's hard to get in just watch you come through," said Dave Barbee, 61, of Sarasota.
Barbee, who has lived in the estate for 10 years, now finds himself without a home like many of his neighbors and he is forced to sleep in his truck.
"It's coming apart here the water came in and then back here to the ceiling and starting to mold so try not to stay in there," said Barbee.
Across the street, Keith Basinger is helping his mom clean up after Hurricane Milton.
"Especially from the neighbor's roof that car flipped up and then went over top of ours and kind of stuff. We just dragged from the backyard and threw over here," said Keith Basinger of Ohio.
Property managers estimate about 75% of the park was damaged by Milton's winds and around 35 to 40% of the homes will need replacement.
"We have 872 homes here so that's quite a few homes," said Bob Cady, manager of Tri-Par Estates.
"A lot of people will try to salvage the homes and fix them and if they can, that's great just looking at all the roofs laying around though it's it's it's hard to imagine people will be able to fix," said Cady.
While power crews from FPL work to untangle power lines and restore power, volunteers are doing their part.
"The entire coast is wiped out many of my friends. Their businesses are livelihoods have been taken away by someone on Ana Maria Island and it's just absolutely incredible. I've never seen anything like this," said Cheryl Grecco, a volunteer.
All of the neighbors say this disaster has changed the face of their community and they fear it won't be the same again.
"It's depressing, especially if they don't have insurance, I don't know what will happen if they'll just take the trailer off the lot and then have to put a new trailer back in," said Basinger.
As Barbee works out long-term plans, including getting FEMA aid like a trailer, he said he has no choice but to stay positive and see the brighter side of life.
"It'll be replaced. It's one day at a time. I'm very fortunate. It looks bad, but I'm very lucky," said Barbee.
"I hope people realize how lucky we are. We are above the dirt," he said.
Local churches are helping get water and food to the Tri-Par estates neighbors and assist with cleanup efforts but property managers say the seniors still need a lot of help. Some volunteers have started a fundraiser to assist the community and are asking volunteer groups who want to help with the cleanup efforts this week to connect with them.