Focus Now On Cleanup After Tornadoes Rip Through Southwest Florida
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Cleanup is underway after tornadoes tore through Southwest Florida on Sunday, destroying homes in its path.
Lee Anderson and his family are OK. His home is not.
"That's the top of our lanai," he said, pointing to it hanging on a tree.
For most people, the focus of the day after is the cleanup. But it was not for Anderson, who is still trying to make sense of what happened Sunday morning.
"If it wasn't for my daughter, we wouldn't be here. We got in the middle of the house and hugged and prayed and it was gone in seconds. But glass all over coverage blown off. An experience I don't want to experience again," he said. "It only lasted seconds, but glass was all over it. And where my granddaughter was sleeping, there was glass all over it. If she was there… it was awful."
While Sunday was awful, but Monday was hopeful.
"Unbelievable that we're alive. And the people are just phenomenal," said Doug McGregor.
McGregor watched how the powerful winds spared his home. He decided to lend a hand to those not as fortunate.
"We gotta do what we gotta do. Gotta help neighbors," he said. "It's better than sitting around in the dark doing nothing when you can help a fellow man get their house cleaned up and hopefully get them back to their life."
But getting back to normal is going to take a bit of time. Anderson said he'll be living in a hotel or with friends until the lights are back at his home and there's a roof is over his head.