PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — FEMA's top leader was in Punta Gorda Friday to assess the damages caused by the recent storms.
"Part of the reason I'm on the ground is so I can see firsthand some of the challenges these communities are going to face with their recovery," said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
The challenges include endless debris, roof damage, and more.
"There's still a lot of hazards out there," Criswell told FOX 4 Community Correspondent Victoria Scott. "A lot of risks, a lot of downed power lines. There's a lot of sharp objects and debris, so just please be careful. Take pictures. Document all the damages that you had."
You can watch Victoria's full report here:
Shorty's Place in Punta Gorda is dealing with debris, water damage, and the emotions from cleaning up after a major hurricane.
"I was speechless," said Shorty's Place bartender Kimberly Moore. "I didn't have any words. I still don't. It's a lot."
Shorty's is where this community hangs out.
Now it's a place where they mourn the loss.
"We've lost everything that wasn't head-high, said the owner's daughter Samantha White. "We've lost liquor. We've lost beer. We've lost equipment. Our building is going to have to be torn at certain parts."
White told Scott they learned some lessons from Hurricane Helene.
However, the water damage from Milton is worse.
"We learned from Helene that we knew water was going to get high, but we didn't expect it to get this high," White said. "Helene was up to my knees, and Milton came up to my waist, up to my hips."
The mud didn't help, either.
"We were about ankle-deep in mud right out here in the front," White said. "Parking lot, everything was just so thick. The first thing we had to do was just start getting brooms and pushing mud to the street."
FEMA told us Friday it just received Governor DeSantis's request to declare a major disaster across Florida's west coast.
The agency said it will get processed quickly.
