Historic home and lives upended in Charlotte Harbor flooding

Flooding is no surprise to the people living by the Peace River, especially those in Charlotte Harbor .

While Hurricane Helene was not expected to cause a life-threatening storm surge in the county, the residents were walloped by rising flood water.

Multiple boats were lifted and tossed around in Charlotte Harbor Thursday night due to the storm surge from Hurricane Helene , and a historic home was flooded, destroying nearly everything inside.

WINK News reporter Camila Pereira was in Charlotte Harbor these past few days, speaking with people about their fears and worries before they faced the storm's effects, as well as some individuals dealing with the storm's aftermath.

The owner said he is currently staying somewhere safe. People are also coming into Charlotte Harbor to help clean it up.

A hollow home, once full of life for decades, now sits marked as "Unsafe to live in" after taking in water Thursday night.

"This foundation was built in 1940, it used to be a post office....1940...1960...So anyway, I'm going to have to...My wife and I will probably have to find someplace to live because I doubt we'll be able to fix it," explained a tearful Robert Hill, the owner of the historic home.

It was the first time this home had taken in water in 18 years, so the storm surge caught the Hills by surprise.

Hill described the destruction: " It destroyed pretty much everything we got in there: clothes, TVs, refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher. These piers came floating from the other side. Two of them went through the front door and broke down my front door."

Just as it did for John, a Charlotte County local who found his boat Friday morning above ground.

"A buddy of mine called me this morning. I was over by the boat club, the Punta Gorda Boat Club, looking for [the boat] where I left her and she wasn't there. And he was on this side of the bridge and said I think I found your boat. He sent me pictures, and sure enough, that was my boat," John explained.

And for Randall and Shona, who said they were on their boat when it all happened, pulled in by John's boat's anchor all the way from Punta Gorda to the other side of the river.

"I thought we were still out in the water. We were up to over our knee of water up here and walked with the fireman up to the hill to make it safe," said Shona.

That boat is their home, and when asked if they had anywhere else to go, they responded with no.

Flooded roads and debris everywhere, for many like Hill, a home with a lifespan cut short.