Auburn Hills family's Florida home caught in path of Hurricane Ian
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - The impact of Hurricane Ian's destruction is being felt in Michigan, as many Metro Detroiters have family in Florida or vacation homes. The sheer devastation left behind by Ian is hard to comprehend. Florida communities ripped apart and lives lost by violent winds— and unrelenting water.
"There’s a lot of people out there who are hurting right now," said Ron Moniz. "It's sickening - we’ve been watching The Weather Channel for three days. It just makes me sick. (I) can’t sleep. I woke (my wife) Denise up in the middle of the night saying what are we going to do."
For the last year and a half, Moniz and his wife made several trips to Florida to fix up this home near Fort Meyers Beach. The Auburn Hills couple planned to eventually use their labor of love as a vacation home to enjoy retirement.
But the home they poured $60,000 into, was caught in Ian's path.
"You’re hurt, you’re worried, there's some depression because you put so much into it, right?" he said. "Not only financially, you put your heart and soul in there."
Cell phone video shows how the flood upended their furniture — even the refrigerator. But the couple won't know the full extent of the damage until they get down to Florida and see it for themselves.
"We have insurance - but we didn’t get the hurricane and we didn’t get the flood," he said. "Fort Myers has never really been hit with a hurricane. I think they said 2008, they may have one - but it never came up like this. So you take your chances I guess. I gambled and I lost."
The couple's son Garrett also lives in Florida. He evacuated — and is staying safe in a hotel with his dog Milo.
"Just pray for everybody that we come out of this stronger," he said. "It’s going to take a lot to rebuild Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach but I think they will."
Ron Moniz