Cleanup and damage assessment is underway in the Florida keys, two weeks after hurricane Irma.
Former WTAW news anchor and reporter Gena Parsons, who lives three miles from where Irma made landfall, returned home Thursday after their family evacuated from a home that was built and held up to the category five storm.
Parsons says their home, which was built to withstand the hurricane, only lost a refrigerator and some window screens. And they are clearing trees that blocked their driveway.
Elsewhere, Parsons says more than 10,000 homes were destroyed in the keys, which has a population of 70,000 permanent residents.
Another issue is the loss of countless boats that washed onshore and were sunk by winds of more than 150 miles per hour and storm surges of 10 to 15 feet.
The hurricane aggravated what Parsons says is a crisis to provide affordable housing to those who work in the tourism and fishing industries.
Parsons says they are still struggling to get Internet, and it took a week for cell service to return.
Yet to come, is surveying damage in the waters off the keys. Parsons, who is the communications and outreach specialist for the Florida Keys area of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, says coral reefs are damaged after protecting the keys from having higher storm surges created by Irma.
Parsons also said the relief effort has been phenomenal. One example is an airlift of supplies from their Rotary International district, using a DC-3 plane that was used in the Berlin aircraft.
In addition to replacing housing, communications has been an issue. Parsons says there is no Internet and cell service returned last week.
Click below for comments from Gena Parsons, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver.
