Anoka Family, well-known on TikTok, shares devastation of Fort Myers and their home
MINNEAPOLIS -- WCCO first told you about the Mannella family last week. Frankie, Christine, and Olive Mannella are originally from Anoka but moved to Fort Myers a few years ago.
They evacuated to Minnesota when Hurricane Ian hit, and drove back to Florida after the storm to assess the damage.
When they finally made it to their home, not far from Fort Myers Beach, they filmed the destruction, outside and inside of their home.
A water line on their walls shows the storm surge rose around 9 ft. on the inside of the first floor of their home. The flood waters left behind a wet, muddy mess for them to clean up.
While a lot of their home was damaged, they were able to recover one treasured item. They found their visitors' book where friends and family who came to stay with them wrote messages over the last 20 years.
"We found it and can still read the pages. It brought us to tears," said Christine Mannella.
The Mannella's have been documenting their emotional journey on TikTok. Their daughter, Olive, has over 2 million followers on the popular app.
She's been sharing the raw reality of recovering from this hurricane with her followers, including the highs, like when they found their jet ski in a pile of rubble, and it still worked.
She's also sharing the lows, like when they drove around Fort Myers Beach, and Olive was brought to tears seeing homes and businesses completely gone.
"I'm like - 'I'm going to include it all,' - because that is very authentic to our experience throughout all of this," said Olive Mannella.
With such a strong following on TikTok, they're hoping to use this platform to connect people who want to help, with those who need it most.
"My hope is that we can actually find families on the island or in the area that are desperate, and really figure out how to push people towards their GoFundMe and get them what they actually need," said Christine Mannella.
This family is taking it one day at a time, slowly cleaning up, counting their blessings.
"We're alive and we're together, and that's what matters," said Olive Mannella.
To continue to see the Mannella family's journey through hurricane recovery, you can follow them on TikTok.
Olive: https://www.tiktok.com/@olivemannella
Christine: https://www.tiktok.com/@chrissermannella