- Neighbors in Madison County are cleaning up from two hurricanes in less than a year.
- The mud and muck Hurricane Debby left behind compounds the damage Hurricane Idalia left behind.
- Watch the video to see who is helping neighbors move forward.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Evidence of Idalia can still be seen throughout Madison County, but neighbors now have a new disaster to recover from.
I'm Kendall Brandt in the Madison County neighborhood. The mud I am walking through is what feet of flood water from Hurricane Debby left behind. I'm following along with one group who is helping neighbors recover from both Idalia and now Debby.
Camilo Andrade has been traveling to Madison County from the Palm Coast since last September. With his non-profit Starfish Disaster Recovery, he has been helping people recover from Hurricane Idalia.
"A lot of people think it's over in a week and that they're all done, but it's been a year since Idalia. We just cut a huge tree out of someone's yard from Idalia that they have been living with it right off the front porch for a year."
Now, they're cleaning up from the most recent disaster: Debby.
The main damage: flooding.
"When the water comes out, we go around and cut the dry wall around the entire inside of the house at least four feet up."
The damage in this house tells you a lot about what the conditions were like.
This line on the wall shows just how far that water came up.
Andrade isn't the only one doing work.
A crew with Americorp, a federal group dedicated to national service, has joined them.
Theo Faucher says the work has been extensive.
"It was hit pretty hard here. Not a lot of recovery has been done and there's still a lot of work to do here even from Idalia."
But he says the neighbors he has helped have been hopeful.
"A lot of fallen trees, a lot of flooded houses, but what's impressing most is the people are very positive about it."
And Andrade says helping the neighbors through Starfish Disaster Recovery has been the reward of a lifetime.
"I get more out of it than I can give. I could stay here and work for the next 20 years and never give back to them what they've given to me."
Starfish will be in Madison County helping neighbors as long as they are still recovering.
