Orlo Vista residents clean up after Hurricane Ian leaves them in deplorable conditions

ORLO VISTA, Fla. - Imagine everything you own, destroyed before your eyes. That's the sad reality for many in Orange County's Orlo Vista neighborhood. 

Dianne Scott evacuated ahead of Hurricane Ian and came back home to devastated homes.

She said, "I lost a lot of my pictures, a lot of my. I've got to get their birth certificates all over again. We lost a lot, we lost about everything." 

Michelle Moore's mother lives just down the street, she says the floodwaters spared nothing. "Everything is gone, everything is soaked, drenched," she said, we've taken most of the furniture out."

The homes are absolutely waterlogged. Many of the people on this street lost everything, and for some of them it wasn't the first time. "We was in the house for Irma, and my neighbor said you better get out of there, you and the boys are gonna drown," Scott said.

"My husband and I and our family, we were here the last time and got taken out on a boat," Moore said, referring to Hurricane Irma.

On Saturday, volunteers spread out across the community, helping residents clean up. "It's a lot of work that needs to be done. Our hearts are broken. When you go inside the house and see the deplorable conditions, but we're here to help," said volunteer Riva Watkins.

Orange County brought in a special trailer outfitted with phone-charging stations, tarps to hand out, and information about aid for flood victims. Commissioner Victoria Siplin says the county has started a $10 million project to ease flooding in Orlo Vista. "We already started the design phase. Now it's basically to get out here and do the improvements."

Starting on Sunday, Orange County is opening a disaster recovery center, at Barnett Park. Anyone affected by Hurricane Ian can come here for assistance for the next 30 days from 7am to 7pm.