BARTOW, Fla. (WFLA) — For some Polk County residents, life is starting to return to normal after Hurricane Ian.
Others are still dealing with flooding and a lack of power.
Not much has changed at the Peace River Village Mobile Home Park in Bartow.
Jessica Cefalu lives in the front of the neighborhood, where there’s power and no water to deal with. But toward the back of the neighborhood, all you hear are generators, and all you see is water.
“It’s been like this since the storm,” Cefalu said.
Cefalu’s daughters live in the back. They have no power. The last time they slept in their home was last Tuesday. They couldn’t find a place for some of their dogs, so they had to leave them at home, which means they have to check on them every day.
“We walked through the water,” Cefalu said. “Through the water. Watch out for the snakes and the alligators and wish for the best.”
People who live in the neighborhood say the water has gone down a little, but in some parts of the park, the water is knee-high.
There is some concern that park managers and property managers aren’t doing enough to get the water out.
“If they had that pump put in and fixed, pumping out some of this water that’s building up before this came, it wouldn’t have been as bad as it is now,” Richard Hatchett said.
The park manager says unfortunately there’s no water pump and they’re at the mercy of the Peace River.
President Joe Biden joined Governor Ron Desantis in Fort Myers Wednesday, reaffirming his commitment to supporting the people of Florida.
“We’re thinking of you and we’re not leaving we’re not leaving until this gets done, I promise you that,” Biden said.
Back in Bartow, all Cefalu and her daughters can do is wait.
“They’re gathering more belongings now and they took out everything important to them that they could,” Cefalu said.
Wait for the water to recede, the lights to come back on and things to return to normal.