A month after the Iona tornado hit Ft. Myers, Florida. Feb 2022. This is Tropicana Park. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to enlarge.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net Reporting from Florida. 2/12/22
It’s been one month since a tornado clobbered this small part of Florida in February,, 2022. Wrecked houses are scattered all over in the Tropicana Park, and the unpredictable spacing of wrecked vs. undamaged homes attests to the chaos of this ungodly event. About 30 homes were devastated. One person died as a result of injuries.
The picture remaining on the wall contrasts with the massive destructiveness as this high speed monster roared through this house. You can also see books on the table, personal items on shelves, and a sentinel—a refrigerator standing awkwardly as if keeping watch; its usual job now gone.
There is a strange sense of quietude and immobility in this community. No demolitions are going on….yet. It causes those who study the scene to wish that the cleanup would move along. Houses to be demolished await completion of paper work involving insurance companies, Lee County, homeowners and management.
How many have been left with a post-traumatic stress disability? And the financial consequences of all this has begun to surface, and there will be trouble. Little did the homeowners here know but in 2023, hurricane Ian would destroy all the homes in Tropicana Park.
We had no damage, but every day we are reminded of the tragedy. It reminds me of Kurtz’s last words in Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness—“The Horror! The Horror.”
THE MELODIANS From the movie Jack Goes Boating