The once pristine Vanderbilt Beach community in Naples is now far from the paradise it once was.
"It's like there was a giant blender that just shook up the entire contents of the home," Bobbi Mendez said Saturday.
The record breaking storm surge from Hurricane Ian submerged Mendez’s home and her family's boat.
"It took a trip across the canal and ended up in our neighbor’s across the canal’s pool," she said.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
With no help from FEMA – as of yet – she worries about what else Hurricane Ian may have left behind.
"There’s chemicals in the mud that you can see swirling, didn’t know which chemicals," she said.
Local
Brian Villanuava is helping people in the community clean out the mess left behind in their homes.
"All that mud you see right there, we had to take it out, water and everything, he said. "Took half a day to take the whole water out."
But there is light piercing through the very dark times.
"A lot of the students here are from all over the world," Mark Middendorf, President of Ave Maria University said.
"We had more students volunteer than we can fit in our vehicles.”
Student volunteers from Ave Maria University walked block by block through the area looking to help.
I''m thinking, if this was my house, how would I feel. It is kind of heartbreaking just to see," Juan Ignacio Garcia, a student volunteer said.
Volunteer Alissa Campell said she couldn’t stay home.
"We’ve just been passing out water, passing out supplies.”
And John Gargano donated his landscaping equipment to help clean up the place he calls home.
"Being that light and bringing that light to others, I mean, that’s what these people need right now is to see people that care," he said.
