NORTH PORT, Fla. — People living in the Harbor Cove community in North Port are still without power.
It’s a trailer park community where most people living there evacuated before Hurricane Ian hit.
Karl and Laurie Fredrick have been visiting the community since 1975. In 1999 they decided to buy a home there. The couple evacuated to Tennessee when they heard how serious Hurricane Ian was going to be.
The two came back to North Port to check on their home as well as neighbors on Monday. Their home sustained damage but said it’s repairable. They said out of about 850 homes in the community, 80 percent were seriously damaged.
They were checking on friend’s houses and calling them with updates.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t always good news.
“We have the heartbreaking job of telling them they have no house to come to,” Laurie Fredrick said.
The couple broke down in tears as they recalled telling many friends their homes were gone.
“A lot of these people won’t be able to afford to repair and come back, so we’ll lose our friends and all the good times we had,” Karl Fredrick said while fighting back tears.
Our crews saw a majority of the homes were seriously damaged. Every block had debris piles feet high.
“You look up through the ceiling and there’s no roof on the house. Everything’s a disaster. Everything is soaking wet,” Karl added.
About two miles down the road along U.S. 41 is the Myakka RV Resort.
One man who lives in a trailer there with his two cats planned to evacuate before the storm.
As John Collins was grabbing his cat carriers, he fell and hurt himself. He could no longer evacuate because he was hurt. He had no choice, but to ride out the hurricane in his trailer.
“It was really very scary. The trailer was rocking like crazy,” John Collins said.
Collins said at one point he worried he could die.
"I was wondering if it was going to tip over," Collins said. "It did go off the footings of the trailer."
Trailers just feet from Collins were ripped into pieces.
Collins said he recommends everyone evacuate if another hurricane hits. He is thankful to be alive and the Fredrick’s feel the same. They know their community and friends' homes are destroyed, but they are thankful no one they know died.
“We’re surviving and there are some many wonderful people and the best comes out when we have disasters like that,” Collins added.