Tropicana park. Feb 8, 2022. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©  Click to see the damage.

Park management has been working to upgrade the park; here are new Royal Palm trees just planted.   That work goes on despite the tragedy.  Paul Goldfinger photo 2/8/22

Paul Goldfinger.  2/8/22

For those of you who don’t know, there was a tornado that tore through several trailer parks and gated communities in the Iona section of Fort Myers, Fla., southwest in the Sunshine State.

We have a place in a manufactured home community called Tropicana–a picturesque village of about 470 homes.

The tornado occurred with practically no warning on a Sunday morning , January 16, when folks were sleeping or puttering around their homes.  Some were caught making breakfast. Some homeowners, like us, weren’t there. We were lucky to have been in the Grove.

The tornado tore a narrow swath through our community  and it was sudden—a surgical strike which sliced through some sections, but not others.  Our street was fine, but right behind us a bunch of homes were wiped out.  And this was the case at various points in the park before the monster moved out and up  a main street before dissipating several miles away.

We heard about it and had friends tell us what was going on.  These homes have no basements.  We learned that some residents hid in closets or bathrooms. By some miracle, no one was killed.

County and state agencies appeared quickly and in force to help, including the Red Cross which set up a kitchen for those who were abruptly homeless and in shock.  They found places to stay whose  homes were gone.  The cleanup began quickly to make the place safe.

It’s been three weeks now, and still the cleanup goes on, and arrangements are being made for demolition of hopeless homes. Contractors are working on individual homes, but some jobs will be delayed, such as roofing repairs and replacements. Many homes are covered with tarps.

Some with damaged homes stayed on if the inspections found them to be safe. Others stayed with friends or headed home if they are snowbirds.

We came back yesterday, and no photos could prepare us for the reality of what we saw. You would pass a few houses that looked normal and then suddenly you come across some homes that are just detritus.  (see above.)

I stopped to take a photo today,  (see above) and I barely emerged from my car when someone came out of a home and questioned me.  There is fear of looters.

Most activities in the park have been cancelled, but all around us in the region, all is normal.   In the park the recovery will take many months.