EL JOBEAN, Fla. — El Jobean is still picking up the pieces after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
FOX 4 Community Correspondent Victoria Scott came across El Jobean resident Lesley Solano while she was walking her dog Tuesday morning.
You can watch Victoria's full report here:
Solano told Scott she lost everything.
"One minute I just want to cry," Solano said. "One minute I just want to laugh and go numb. You go through all kinds of emotions."
She said her home flooded during the storms.
"We lost everything in our house," Solano said. "The floodwaters came up about 20 inches inside. We lost all our furniture."
Her own home isn't the only thing that's crossing her mind. She recently fixed her cousin's home after it got damaged by Hurricane Ian. Now, her hard work is scattered across the front lawn.
"We did all the new windows," Solano said. "We put all the pavers in. We built this whole thing."
It flooded everywhere when Solano's cousin stayed during Helene.
"It finally got up to the upper floor almost to the top of his bed," she said. "That's when he walked out of here touching the tops of the mailboxes because it was up to there on him. He's a tall guy."
Solano told Scott her cousin ultimately packed up and left for Montana.
"To be honest with you, he can fix it, but he's done. He can't handle this anymore. I don't blame him."
Solano said she's not giving up hope regardless of what mother nature throws at her.
"I want to get a loan and maybe build a house up," she said. "If we can just get up off the ground then we can save our little things like if we have another golf cart or if we have another lawn mower which we will."
