Fort Myers Hurricane

Hi Family and Friends,

Recently, Hurricane Ian hit the coast of Florida – specifically Fort Myers a place where my sister Christine Slade has called home for the past 4 years. The stories that my sister Christine has been telling me over the past week since the storm hit has been nothing less than horrific. Christine has told me of hundreds of thousands of people that are completely homeless. Many do not have a place to call home as it was destroyed by the hurricane. Many of Christine’s friends remain missing as they lived on Fort Myers Beach (a place they truly loved) but the area that was hit the hardest. And Monday they informed my sister that she did in fact lose 2 close friends. The authorities found their bodies on the beach. My heart goes out to the friends and families of these 2 friends as well as to many, many others that remain missing.

The stories that my sister has told me over the past week have touched my heart and soul. When a catastrophe hits it’s never expected and it is devastating to the ones it affects. Many of her friends and neighbors are distraught, in shock and in complete disbelief of the situation that they find themselves. The sad part is it can happen to anyone!

Christine lives in a condo association of approximately 475 condos. Most of her neighborhood was flooded, lost power, and now the drinking water is contaminated.

Fortunately, the power has been restored, but the damage to the condos in the condo association is more than any of them can bare even for those that do have insurance. The flood damage has caused the unit owners to have to empty the entire contents out onto the street to prevent mold from growing. In Florida, mold grows quickly and can spread through the condos quickly.

At the present time, Christine is living in her waterlogged, moldly, horrific smelling due to the flooded sea and polluted water condo. She is living there with her 3 fury loveable cats. I would like to raise some money for her to live elsewhere asap as I don’t want her to get sick from the mold. There are not many places at all to rent, but there are a few. They are extremely expensive due to extreme limited access to housing. I would also like to raise some money for her friends and neighbors that don’t have family to help them. It would be great to be able to purchase several gift cards for her friends and neighbors to help with their immediate needs as well.

In an effort to help my sister, I am reaching out to all our friends and family as well as any others that would like to help her and her friends and neighbors. She needs a new place to call home until her home can be restored and fixed. The problem is the insurance money is very slow due to pure number of losses. The immediate need for sooooo many is of the utmost importance. Many have no food, no clothes, cannot wash clothes or dishes and are having a difficult time of functioning daily. And soooo many do not even have a car as their vehicles were flooded and no longer run. They cannot even drive anywhere, there are no cars to rent and no cars to buy. Christine has told me that some of her neighbors cannot stand the smell of mold and are sleeping in their front yard “under the stars” with NOT even a tent! To me, this is devastation beyond belief. Not to mention, I would never be able to sleep thinking a gator or snake is never far away!

Over the upcoming weeks, I plan to post many of Christine’s stories so you can hear the stories of the recovery and strength beyond belief of the many people of Fort Myers Beach area. I plan on posting pics too so you can see how your contributions are helping Christine and her devastated friends and neighbors.

I would love nothing more than to help my sister Christine and tell her that the funds are available from people who care to help her and her friends and neighbors.

From the bottom of my heart - Thank you!!