Labelle shelter closes, forcing two families to move

LABELLE, Fla. The Labelle Civic Center shelter closed its doors Monday night, forcing two families to move into a nearby hotel.

Bill Grace says he has been staying at the shelter since Hurricane Irma flooded his home and forced a tree through the roof.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” Grace said. “The way I’m looking at it right now is I’m homeless.”

The shelter housed about 200 people, Red Cross spokesman Carl Riley said.

“We’ve been here since Sept. 11, 24 hours operations, making sure they have a place to stay, food to eat and try to make them as comfortable as possible,” Riley said. “One thing I can say, this shelter here, we all came together as one big family, we helped one another.”

Grace says he is still struggling to figure out what’s next.

“I just need some help,” Grace said. “That’s all I ask is a little bit of help, get back to work, get back to a normal life.”