CAPE CORAL, FLA — Carmine Zingariello says it all started with a phone call from a friend on Wednesday.
"He just called me and said you better get your butt here, we got a problem," he said.
After a quick plane ride from Massachusetts to Cape Coral, Zingariello was met face-to-face with severe damage to the dock, seawall and yard of his Florida home.
"[It's a] Brand new dock did it last year. All brand new," he said, "I'm thinking maybe my boat being on the lift, it started shaking it and it caused like a chain reaction where it started bowing one of the pilings and then just everything took over."
He says he's hoping an engineer can give him an exact cause. But his concerns don't stop there. There is also a fear that the damage could creep up to other parts of his home.
Local marine construction expert, Jimmy Williamson, says that's because rain is always on the forecast this time of year.
"What I'm concerned the most about Elsa and any tropical storm is the amount of rainfall that we have during that time," he said.
More rain means his already soggy yard could keep pulling away and cause his pool to crumble into the canal.
Zingariello is currently working with Jimmy and his company, Williamson Bros. Marine Construction, to keep that from happening..
"I got them coming over tomorrow to put a canvas over it," said Zingariello.
It's a lot of work, that he says he'll have to pay for on his own, after his insurance denied his claim.
"The way they're talking [it will cost] a couple hundred grand," he said.
But in the meantime, he'll stay focused on happier times.
"We had a wedding just about a month ago in the house, a bunch of people, the place was beautiful," he said.
