NW Cape Coral neighbors try to return to normalcy after tornado strikes

Roofs ripped off, cars crumpled and lives uprooted. That is the scene on Monday as folks in northwest Cape Coral pick up the pieces after a tornado swept across the area.

Two days after a tornado whipped through northwest Cape Coral, with winds up to 95 miles per hour, Barb Helm is looking for a new place to live. “We’re going to be gone for a while – they figure at least four months,” she said. “Maybe longer to get it all repaired.”

Helm is busy cleaning up and moving out of her unlivable house. Despite it all, there is some good news. Helms said her insurance company has been receptive to her concerns and responsive to her needs.

But just down the road, her neighbors feel victimized again. Bryan Gonzalez has a home with severe damages. Gonzalez has his grill in the pool and his house has no running water. The Cape Coral man is still waiting to see insurance adjustors.

“I can’t sit down and wait on the insurance,” Gonzalez said. “I need water. I need my roof fixed. I need my pool fixed, so I’m going to have to come out of pocket.” Gonzalez is frustrated. “They’re supposed to come in,” he added. “That’s why I’m waiting on them to come in today.”

While the insurance adjustors did not arrive on Monday, Gonzalez is hoping they will make it to his beaten-down home on Tuesday so that he can start regaining a sense of normality. “Get my house back together and my life the way it was before it was interrupted.”