Cape Coral tornado victims resilient as community rallies to help

Reporter: Andrew Scheinthal & Adam Wright
Published: Updated:

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- Keith Luedke’s home is a mess following Saturday’s EF2 tornado that caused more than $6 million in damage throughout Cape Coral.

His bathroom is destroyed, there’s shattered glass everywhere, and the roof collapsed.

“They’re going to be demolition inside the house for certain things, the ceilings, the walls,” said Luedke, “so right now, we’re in a hotel downtown.”

Luedke is just one of hundreds in southwest Cape Coral on the long road to recovery. On Tuesday, insurance adjusters were out on the streets, talking to homeowners, while firefighters walked from house to house to check up on residents.

“We’ve been slammed. Saturday, I had 15 hours in, Sunday I had 12 or 13 hours in, out here just one job after another,” said Gary Meyers with Damex Corp.

The city estimates around 200 homes in the tornado’s path were damaged, but that doesn’t include homes outside the path. One insurance adjuster says he thinks possibly as many as 600 homes were hit and Luedke agrees.

“I can stand on my dock and probably see 30-40 homes without leaving my property,” said Luedke. “My guesstimate, it would be 500 or so, it’s a guess, but I think the 200 is very, very low.”

The Cape Coral Police Department says its estimate of 200 damaged homes could continue to rise as the days and weeks progress.

Community members plan clean-up  

Hundreds of people have reached out to families impacted by the weekend’s storm.

“That’s all we can do right now, is just you know, rebuild and help each other out,” said Tara Demond who lost her home in Saturday’s tornado. But, that’s not what has her speechless. “Down deep inside, we really pull together whenever stuff like this happens.”

One woman in particular is using social media to make a difference. Megan Reark is using Facebook to invite Southwest Florida residents to join her in cleaning up. Volunteers will meet at the corner of Agualinda Boulevard and Beach Parkway on Thursday between noon and 6 p.m. to help clean up and donate items.

“This is our community, this is our home, so we want to show them that we’re here for them,” said Reark.

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